Feeling of ‘family’ propels Monticello at state

DES MOINES - As Monticello's Isaac Holtz prepared to try to better his Class 2A championship discus throw, the crowd around him swelled.

Every teammate - from Ben Ahlrichs, who'd just anchored the distance medley relay team to a state title, to high jumper Cody Jamison, who took second after a disappointing 2013 meet - assembled to support him.

And he noticed.

'We're all kind of a family,” said Holtz, who garnered gold at Friday's state track meet by unleashing a top throw of 172-feet 6-inches. 'Every practice we chatter about winning and how important it is to us. We all just kind of have a bond that we always cheer for each other and make sure, even if we mess up, we're all there for each other.”

The Panthers haven't slipped up much, if at all, at state the past two seasons.

They won with a dominant 96-point effort in 2013.

They lead second-place West Burlington Notre Dame by 33 points (60-27) entering today's finals, virtually assuring a second straight title for the first time in school history.

'Everyone had a job to do this weekend,” Ahlrichs said after powering his team to the distance medley win in 3:31.06. 'We all wanted to make sure we did ours.”

Ahlrichs took the baton in the middle of the pack, but quickly darted to the front.

He held off North Polk's hard-charging Ryley Sandberg in the final 10 meters, winning by .42 seconds.

'I'm not always the strongest at finishing an (800 leg) and going out hard like I did I was a little scared that he'd be able to out kick me, but I thought I held it off really great,” Ahlrichs said.

Jamison started off great - he didn't upset the bar until after he'd cleared 6-6 - and was pleased with his second-place finish.

He failed to rise above 6-0 last season after leaping 6-4 to win the 2012 title.

'It was a little motivation,” Jamison said of last year's 'off” performance. 'All year I just wanted to be consistent and at least get 6-4 every meet.”

So far, so good, team-wide.

Winning's infectious, as is effort.

'We should run away with it,” Jamison said of the team points race. 'We're pretty good.”

BECKMAN CLOSES IN

Dyersville Beckman's 800-meter relay team won its heat and nearly won the whole event. The Trailblazers settled for second in 1:30.64.

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