Rima races to a 2nd gold

DES MOINES - Jalen Rima reports to baseball Monday, in time for the Metro tournament.

He'll do so with plenty of stories to share, the stories of a two-time state track and field champion.

Rima claimed the Class 4A boys' 200-meter title Saturday at Drake Stadium, blazing home in 22.03 seconds.

'My start was pretty good, and I held my endurance the whole race,” said Rima, a junior at Cedar Rapids Prairie. 'It's great, it's amazing.”

Led by runner-up Linn-Mar, the Metro captured three of the top seven spots in the 4A boys' team race.

Waukee took the title with 83 points, followed by the Lions (53). The Lions were second Saturday in the shuttle hurdle relay and the 400-meter relay.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy was sixth; Prairie was seventh.

The 400 winner on Thursday, Rima made it a double Saturday, leading from the start. He did it without his trademark white tights, going with black ones instead.

'I couldn't wear (the whites),” he said. 'They were dirty.”

Linn-Mar made a Saturday push, capitalizing on a second chance in the 400 relay.

Leadoff runner Perrion Scott false-started and was ushered off the track. After a minute or two, he was called back. The ruling was that a camera shutter had gone off, causing him to jump prematurely.

'I thought my career was over,” Scott said. 'I was excited that they gave me a second chance. Thank God, I didn't have to leave Drake Stadium with a disqualification. I'm very thankful for that.”

Scott, Tristan Freese, Griffin Freese and Daniel Gorsich ran in 42.60, behind Cedar Falls (42.47). Scott was third in the 100.

Linn-Mar's shuttle team of Zeal Baker, Gavren Dochterman, Nick House and Daniel Gorsich finished in 57.26; Waukee won in 56.02.

Baker and House are sophomores, Dochterman and Gorsich are juniors.

'We're going to shoot for the all-time Iowa best (55.78) next year,” said Gorsich, who added a fourth-place finish in the 110-meter highs. 'We've just got to get quicker. I think we can get a lot faster.”

Prairie's Tysen VanDraska was the runner-up in the 800, running 1:54.68 out of the first heat, then turned on the jets down the stretch of the 1,600, finishing second there in 4:21.70.

'When you're in the first heat, all alone, it's all mental. You can't slow down,” VanDraska said. 'You've got to tell yourself to keep going.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com