Linn-Mar’s boys look every bit like a 4A track and field title contender

MARION — They have that look. They have that feel.

Championship contenders?

“Yeah, we are,” Linn-Mar’s Nicholas Gorsich said. “We haven’t been talking about it too much, and I don’t want to make any big expectations ...

“But other teams should be a little scared of us.”

Quite concerned, at the very least.

Linn-Mar won eight events, accumulated 14 automatic qualifiers and claimed the boys’ championship of a Class 4A state-qualifying track and field meet Thursday night at Linn-Mar Stadium.

The Lions scored 171 points, serving notice that they plan to be a major player in the 4A championship race at the state meet next week in Des Moines.

“Our strength is the weird events,” Gorsich said.

The weird events?

“Yeah,” he said. “We don’t have that great sprinter, that great distance runner. But we have hurdlers, jumpers, throwers and relays.”

Call it "winning in the margins,“ if you wish. But points are points, and the Lions are capable of scoring a lot of them inside (and outside) Drake Stadium.

T.J. Jackson is back from a minor illness, winning both jumps and igniting Linn-Mar to a field-events sweep.

Sometimes “negative” has the most positive connotations. In medical testing, for example.

What, exactly, was ailing Jackson?

“Nothing,” he said. “I went to the doctor, and everything came back negative. COVID, mono, strep ... all negative.

“It was good, because I was able to give my hamstring some rest.”

Jackson took a few days off, including the Mississippi Valley Conference divisional meet. He was back Thursday, though, and looked like his normal, healthy self.

He won the long jump on his final leap of 22 feet, 8 3/4 inches, then cleared 6-8 in the high jump.

“My high jump was fine,” said Jackson, a Grand View University football recruit. “My long jump, I struggled a little. I got a good one on my last jump. I had to go for that one.”

Linn-Mar went 1-2 in both boys’ throwing events. Keaton Roskop won the discus with an effort of 164-6, but seemed most pleased when teammate Murphy Aucutt threw 157-9 on his last attempt to climb to second.

“I’m so excited for him,” Roskop said. “That was a clutch throw.”

Roskop’s best throws of the day, he said, were fouls.

“I was throwing 175, 179, 180 in warmups. I basically stepped out of the ring with a couple of 170-foot throws (in competition),” he said. “I just wasn’t paying attention.”

Sam Watts and Roskop threw 52-9 1/2 and 52-0 3/4 in the shot put.

Gorsich ran a leg on Linn-Mar’s winning shuttle hurdle relay unit; the Lions reclaimed the state lead with a clocking of 57.99 seconds.

Then he won the 110 highs in 14.47, the 400 lows in 52.46.

“I’m pleased,” he said. “I didn’t have any PRs, but I was consistent.”

Cedar Rapids Washington’s Miles Thompson was a four-time champion. His 100-meter effort of 10.51 seconds moved him up one spot, to No. 2, all-time in Iowa.

A Texas Tech football/track recruit, Thompson also won the 200 (21.69) and anchored the Warriors’ victorious 4x100 and 4x200 relays.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy had a corner on the boys’ distance races, with Miles Wilson doubling in the 3,200 and 1,600 and Henry McMahan winning the 800.

Ames was the class of the girls’ competition, racking up 212 points and counting 16 automatic qualifiers (11 event champions, five runners-up).

Linn-Mar (149.5 points) and Cedar Rapids Kennedy (113) have nine automatic qualifiers apiece.

Linn-Mar won a pair of girls’ field events (Kennedy Evans in the shot put, Abby Mecklenburg in the long jump).

The most riveting girls’ field event, though, was the high jump, in which Cedar Rapids Prairie freshman Lyla Canny prevailed in a deep field, clearing 5 feet, 3 inches.

“It wasn’t my best, but I qualified,” Canny said. “I think I just get tired after a while.”

Six jumpers were still alive after 5-1, four after 5-2. Canny and Linn-Mar’s Katy Hand cleared 5-3, with Canny winning via fewer misses.

“I wasn’t expecting so many people left for so long,” Canny said. “Usually by 5 feet, there are only two people left.”

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Kennedy was led by the Swartzendruber twins, who ran a riveting 400-meter race. Addison Swartzendruber won it in 56.54 seconds, followed by Sidney Swartzendruber in 56.60.

They ran the last two legs of the Cougars’ winning sprint medley relay. Quren Hullon added a 100-meter title.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson won the boys’ distance medley.

Class 4A State Qualifier

AT LINN-MAR STADIUM

(Top 2 in each event are automatic state qualifiers; 12 at-large qualifiers statewide in each event will be determined Friday)

Girls Results

Teams (automatic qualifiers in parentheses)

1. Ames 212 (16)

2. Linn-Mar 149.5 (9)

3. C.R. Kennedy 113 (9)

4. C.R. Prairie 107 (3)

5. Mason City 64.5 (1)

6. Muscatine 36

7. C.R. Washington 30

8. C.R. Jefferson 21

Shot put — 1. Kennedy Evans (LM), 39-5; 2. Josianna Toingar (LM), 37-5; 3. Kamiyah Elders (CRW), 35-5; 4. Emersyn Stout (CRP), 34-8; 5. Katie Strotman (Ames), 32-9.

Discus — 1. Jaelyn Falls (MC), 116-0; 2. Gwen Gaffney (LM), 112-3; 3. Erica Kinn (LM), 109-5; 4. Katie Strotman (Ames), 108-3; 5. Dawn Saili (Ames), 106-0.

High jump — 1. Lyla Canny (CRP), 5-3; 2. Katy Hand (LM), 5-3; 3. Anisa Percival (Ames), 5-2; 4. Ayak Akol (Ames), 5-2; 5. (tie) Megan Tobin (MC) and Allison Kriegel (LM), 5-1.

Long jump — 1. Abby Mecklenburg (LM), 17-7 3/4; 2. Petra Sherman (LM), 17-7 1/4; 3. Elaina Deardorff (Ames), 16-3 1/4; 4. Edyn Cowles (Ames), 16-1 1/4; 5. Samantha Fowler (CRJ), 15-11.

Sprint medley relay — 1. C.R. Kennedy (Hullon, Hospodarsky, Swartzendruber, Swartzendruber), 1:46.27; 2. Ames, 1:47.16; 3. Linn-Mar, 1:49.72; 4. C.R. Prairie, 1:54.10; 5. Muscatine, 1:56.52.

3,000 — 1. Marley Turk (Ames), 10:58.38; 2. Lauren Risdal (Ames), 11:04.74; 3. Audra Mulholland (MC), 11:21.80; 4. Makenna Hetrick (CRW), 12:07.44; 5. Addie Domer (LM), 12:08.60.

3,200 relay — 1. Ames (Horras, Helmers, Turk, Turk), 9:33.86; 2. Linn-Mar, 9:59.35; 3. C.R. Prairie, 9:59.93; 4. Mason City, 10:04.12; 5. C.R. Kennedy, 10:24.88.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Ames (Attinger, Buss, Markutsya, Frandsen), 1:02.80; 2. Linn-Mar, 1:06.20; 3. Muscatine, 1:09.02; 4. Mason City, 1:10.21; 5. C.R. Kennedy, 1:10.89.

100 — 1. Quren Hullon (CRK), 12.81; 2. Asia Ross (Ames), 12.85; 3. Sarah Jordan (CRP), 12.86; 4. Avery Schroeder (Musc), 12.88; 5. Ja'Niya Crawford (LM), 13.19.

Distance medley relay — 1. Ames (Buss, Deardorff, Hatcher, Turk), 4:11.05; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 4:23.40; 3. Mason City, 4:25.11; 4. Linn-Mar, 4:26.50; 5. C.R. Prairie, 4:30.82.

400 — 1. Addison Swartzendruber (CRK), 56.54; 2. Sidney Swartzendruber (CRK), 56.60; 3. Cameron Moon (Ames), 58.16; 4. Bethany Northrup (LM), 58.33; 5. Saylor Horras (Ames), 1:00.74.

800 relay — 1. Ames (Buss, Deardorff, Lynch, Ross), 1:43.80; 2. C.R. Prairie, 1:45.50; 3. Linn-Mar, 1:47.08; 4. C.R. Kennedy, 1:47.75; 5. C.R. Jefferson, 1:48.65.

100 hurdles — 1. Ali Frandsen (Ames), 14.41; 2. Grace Braden (CRK), 15.33; 3. Rosa Monarch (MC), 15.81; 4. Ryann Decker (CRP), 15.99; 5. Alina Markutsya (Ames), 16.09.

800 — 1. Sidney Swartzendruber (CRK), 2:21.27; 2. Bethany Northrup (LM), 2:21.43; 3. Chloe Egbert (LM), 2:24.89; 4. Brogan Evans (MC), 2:25.13; 5. Katie Campbell (Ames), 2:33.08.

200 — 1. Cameron Moon (Ames), 25.27; 2. Addison Swartzendruber (CRK), 25.82; 3. Sophia Hatcher (Ames), 26.05; 4. Asia Russell (CRP), 26.06; 5. Emerson Swearinger (CRK), 26.63.

400 hurdles — 1. Ali Frandsen (Ames), 1:03.06; 2. Angelica Attinger (Ames), 1:06.13; 3. Hannah Hughes (CRP), 1:09.40; 4. Ella Schroeder (Musc), 1:09.58; 5. Sage Slessor (CRW), 1:10.89.

1,500 — 1. Marley Turk (Ames), 4:48.53; 2. Sydney Turk (Ames), 5:00.23; 3. Alyssa Brandt (CRK), 5:04.50; 4. Audra Mulholland (MC), 5:07.34; 5. Keirra Hess (CRP), 5:09.40.

400 relay — 1. Ames (Buss, Lynch, Hatcher, Ross), 49.27; 2. C.R. Prairie, 50.29; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 50.65; 4. Linn-Mar, 50.66; 5. C.R. Jefferson, 50.98.

1,600 relay — 1. Ames (Moon, Horras, Lynch, Frandsen), 3:55.33; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 4:01.15; 3. C.R. Prairie, 4:08.57; 4. Linn-Mar, 4:09.73; 5. Mason City, 4:10.32.

Boys Results

Teams (automatic qualifiers in parentheses)

1. Linn-Mar 171 (14)

2. C.R. Prairie 146 (6)

3. C.R. Kennedy 122.5 (5)

4. Mason City 96 (3)

5. C.R. Washington 78.5 (5)

6. Ames 57 (3)

7. C.R. Jefferson 37 (2)

8. Muscatine 29

Shot put — 1. Sam Watts (LM), 52-9 1/2; 3. Keaton Roskop (LM), 52-0 3/4; 3. Cade Meyer (MC), 49-3 1/2; 4. Logan Johnson (CRK), 48-5 1/2; 5. Nelson Evans IV (CRJ), 48-1 3/4.

Discus — 1. Keaton Roskop (LM), 164-6; 2. Murphy Aucutt (LM), 157-9; 3. Tate Joens (CRP), 157-5; 4. Tyler Fitz (Ames), 147-11; 5. Haydn Stockdale (CRP), 143-8.

High jump — 1. T.J. Jackson (LM), 6-8; 2. Apollo Payne (CRP), 6-3; 3. Kale Hobart (MC), 6-2; 4. (tie) J.J. Willis (CRW) and Pierce McCrary (CRK), 6-0.

Long jump — 1. T.J. Jackson (LM), 22-8 3/4; 2. Miles Parlet (CRW), 22-6 1/2; 3. Justyn Rivera (MC), 21-7 1/4; 4. Drew Hobart (MC), 21-4 3/4; 5. Noah Johnson (CRW), 21-4.

Sprint medley relay — 1. Mason City (Rivera, Lee, Tyler, Fingalsen), 1:31.89; 2. Linn-Mar, 1:32.22; 3. C.R. Prairie, 1:32.93; 4. C.R. Kennedy, 1:35.85; 5. Muscatine, 1:36.05.

3,200 — 1. Miles Wilson (CRK), 9:36.07; 2. Ahmed Aldamak (Ames), 9:38.74; 3. Nicholaus Lee (CRP), 9:40.85; 4. Riley Kuhn (LM), 9:45.49; 5. Bennett Allred (CRP), 9:58.07.

3,200 relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Cozine, Steffen, Morrissey, Harper), 8:06.28; 2. C.R. Prairie, 8:07.79; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 8:12.65; 4. Mason City, 8:16.10; 5. Ames, 8:18.99.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Leemhuis, Gorsich, Waller, Grant), 57.99; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 59.02; 3. C.R. Washington, 1:01.11; 4. C.R. Prairie, 1:02.15; 5. Muscatine, 1:03.73.

100 — 1. Miles Thompson (CRW), 10.51; 2. Tre Duffie (CRK), 11.25; 3. Sam Asiedu-Okyere (CRP), 11.32; 4. Carter Henderson (LM), 11.40; 5. Jimelle Forkpa (Musc), 11.42.

Distance medley relay — 1. C.R. Jefferson (Robinson, Wilcox, Robinson, Sanders), 3:38.59; 2. Ames, 3:38.73; 3. C.R. Prairie, 3:39.32; 4. C.R. Kennedy, 3:40.23; 5. Linn-Mar, 3:40.69.

400 — 1. James Fingalsen (MC), 48.47; 2. Tayden Ferguson (LM), 48.69; 3. Jackson Johannes (CRP), 50.80; 4. Kasin Byre (MC), 51.76; 5. Lucas Lueth (Ames), 52.11.

800 relay — 1. C.R. Washington (Charters, Parlet, Johnson, Thompson), 1:27.88; 2. C.R. Prairie, 1:28.64; 3. Linn-Mar, 1:29.08; 4. C.R. Kennedy, 1:29.48; 5. Mason City, 1:30.58.

110 hurdles — 1. Nicholas Gorsich (LM), 14.47; 2. Quinton Alexander (CRP), 14.89; 3. Eli Ebel (CRP), 14.95; 4. Kale Hobart (MC), 15.16; 5. Cyrus Courtney (CRK), 15.27.

800 — 1. Henry McMahan (CRK), 1:59.51; 2. Jaxon Sickels (CRP), 1:59.81; 3. Harrison Allard, 2:00.02; 4. Jess Cornick (MC), 2:00.89; 5. Ethan Cozine (LM), 2:02.12.

200 — 1. Miles Thompson (CRW), 21.69; 2. Sam Asiedu-Okyere (CRP), 22.73; 3. Cyrus Courtney (CRK), 22.74; 4. Mereweneza Byishimo (CRP), 22.83; 5. Kaden McCloe (LM), 22.86.

400 hurdles — 1. Nicholas Gorsich (LM), 52.46; 2. William Grant (LM), 54.40; 3. Kale Hobart (MC), 56.13; 4. Tyler Bartels (CRK), 57.12; 5. Leighton Charters (CRW), 57.43.

1,600 — 1. Miles Wilson (CRK), 4:29.14; 2. Connor Johnson (Ames), 4:32.64; 3. Jacob Bruns (CRK), 4:34.62; 4. Nicholaus Lee (CRP), 4:35.39; 5. Zach Cooper (CRP), 4:36.08.

400 relay — 1. C.R. Washington (Epps-Keller, Parlet, Johnson, Thompson), 42.11; 2. C.R. Jefferson, 42.56; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 42.69; 4. C.R. Prairie, 43.00; 5. Linn-Mar, 43.20.

1,600 relay — 1. Mason City (Tyler, Hobart, Wynter, Fingalsen), 3:20.04; 2. Linn-Mar, 3:22.55; 3. C.R. Prairie, 3:26.01; 4. C.R. Jefferson, 3:28.52; 5. Muscatine, 3:29.11.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com