Contrite Dunn blazes in return to competition

MARION -- Kyle Dunn has some growing up to do.

So says Kyle Dunn.

"I've really got to mature a lot from where I was before April 16," said Dunn, who made a fairly spectacular return to the high school track scene Tuesday night.

Dunn was a triple-winner at the Clark Weaver Lion Relays as the home team captured the team title.

Linn-Mar won half of the 18 events and won the six-team meet with 167 points. Cedar Rapids Washington was second with 125.

While most of the state's best track athletes competed at the Drake Relays last weekend, Dunn bought a ticket and watched. It was the third meet of a three-meet suspension after breaking the school's good-conduct policy for extra-curricular activities.

Dunn was arrested for OWI on April 16.

"It's definitely been a learning experience," he said after blazing through the 400-meter hurdles in 51.59 seconds. "It was one of the worst mistakes I could have made. I lost a lot of respect in the community, and I'm going to use it as motivation.

"Most people have been pretty supportive. But if I was somebody else, looking at me, I would expect more from me.

"It was tough to watch at Drake. It made me realize how much I had taken some things for granted, and it made me realize that I'm going to have to work my butt off in college."

Dunn, who will compete at the University of Arkansas next year, also won the 110-meter highs in 15.95 seconds and anchored the Lions to victory in the 1,600-meter relay.

But, considering the fact that he hasn't raced in about three weeks, his 400-meter hurdles race was an eye-opener.

"I felt really fresh," Dunn said. "I'm starting to feel a lot closer to where I was last year. That's really encouraging."

Tuesday's meet was the first varsity track competition at the new stadium, which cost nearly $11 million to build. It's a beautiful facility. And it's a fast track.

"It's nice, really nice," said Cedar Rapids Washington's Alex Carr, who anchored the Warriors' winning 400-meter relay. "It's a lot softer than most tracks. It's nice to run on a surface like this."

CLARK WEAVER LION RELAYS

At Linn-Mar

Teams -- 1. Linn-Mar 167, 2. C.R. Washington 125, 3. Waterloo West 100, 4. C.R. Xavier 83, 5. C.R. Prairie 55, 6. Waterloo East 21.

Shot put -- 1. Jack Halupnick (LM), 46-10; 2. Jordan Harrington (WW), 45-4 1/2; 3. Frank Davis (LM), 45-0; Discus -- 1. Sam Joens (CRP), 161-4; 2. Tre Keller (WW), 147-9; 3. Mac Mahmens (LM), 138-2; High jump -- 1. Alec Clasen (CRX), 6-4; 2. (tie) Tylor White (WE) and Wesley Akin (WW), 6-2; Long jump -- 1. Dequayvious Martin (WW), 21-6 1/2; 2. Colton Sanchez (LM), 20-11 1/4; 3. Robert Hogg (CRW), 20-4 3/4.

3,200 -- 1. Josh Evans (LM), 9:40.06; 2. Etienne Nzoyisaba (CRW), 10:04.99; 3. Kyle Read (LM), 10:41.58;

3,200 relay -- 1. Linn-Mar (Razo, Gentzler, Trenary, Walker), 8:10.40; 2. Waterloo West, 8:22.92; 3. C.R. Washington, 8:49.40;

Shuttle hurdle relay -- 1. Linn-Mar (Lucas, Sanchez, Ophoff, Keiser), 58.93; 2. C.R. Washington, 59.70; 3. C.R. Xavier, 1:01.28;

100 -- 1. Tyrell Martin (WW), 11.01; 2. Kristopher Gardner (CRW), 11.13; 3. Haris Nuhanovic (WW), 11.22;

400 -- 1. Jordan Weber (CRX), 52.44; 2. Jordan Kremer (LM), 53.00; 3. Brandon Gradoville (CRX), 53.74;

800 relay --  1. Waterloo West (Martin, Martin, Young, Nuhanovic), 1:31.39; 2. C.R. Washington, 1:34.41; 3. Linn-Mar, 1:34.66;

110 hurdles -- 1. Kyle Dunn (LM), 15.95; 2. Mike Keiser (LM), 16.06; 3. Miles Barton (CRW), 16.57;

1,600 -- 1. Robert Hogg (CRW), 4:29.86; 2. Ben Schueler (CRX), 4:40.79; 3. Etienne Nzoyisaba (CRW), 4:42.83;

200 -- 1. Will Griffin (CRW), 23.43; 2. Alex Carr (CRW), 23.54; 3. Aaron Taylor (WE), 22.98

; 400 hurdles -- 1. Kyle Dunn (LM), 51.59; 2. Tom Frieden (CRP), 56.08; 3. Drake Hickok (CRW), 56.27

; 1,600 medley relay -- 1. Linn-Mar (Hunter, Feller, Ophoff, Gentzler), 3:42.45; 2. Waterloo West, 3:44.38; 3. C.R. Prairie, 3:49.50

; 800 -- 1. Matt Simon (LM), 2:00.15; 2. Chase Grabau (LM), 2:00.92; 3. Trevor Luebe (CRW), 2:04.36;

400 relay -- 1. C.R. Washington (Carr, Griffin, Gardner, Carr), 43.14; 2. Waterloo West, 43.76; 3. C.R. Xavier, 44.18;

1,600 relay -- 1. Linn-Mar (Lucas, Razo, Kremer, Dunn), 3:27.33; 2. Waterloo West, 3:33.18; 3. C.R. Xavier, 3:37.05.