Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Jackson Johannes had the inside track on the Drake Relays boys 400 title

DES MOINES — Lane 1 afterthought?

How about Lane 1 afterburners!

Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Jackson Johannes came from the inside rail to shock the field in the boys’ 400-meter dash at the Drake Relays on Friday at Drake Stadium.

He did it in 47.67 seconds, a Drake record.

“I definitely didn’t expect this,” said Johannes, who will compete at the University of Northern Iowa next year.

On the other hand ...

“I had a race plan. I talked to my coaches. I was going to go out and run my race. I told myself, ‘I can compete. I can win this race.’”

Johannes was one of three area boys’ winning events in a fruitful Friday.

Western Dubuque sophomore Quentin Nauman was crowned in the 800, and Iowa City West repeated in the 800-meter relay.

Competing in his first Relays, Johannes was up to the moment. He got out quickly, put himself in position, then sealed the deal.

“I came off the curve at 300, and I thought, ‘I’m in it. I can win it,’” he said. “I gave it to God, and he delivered.”

Johannes did his part, too, edging Carlisle’s Braedin Zondervan by 5-hundredths of a second.

And with victory in hard, he hustled to the rail and embraced with his father.

“He’s one of the only ones — along with my mom — that believed in me,” Johannes said. “He has dedicated so much for me.”

Western Dubuque’s Quentin Nauman rules the 800

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After answering a series of questions in the media room, Nauman turned the tables, with urgency:

“Where’s the nearest trash can?”

Calling it “a dream come true,” Nauman jetted from behind on the final backstretch and won the 800 title, in 1:52.22.

“I didn’t expect this my sophomore year,” Nauman said. “I don’t know what to say.

“It’s really cool. Some of these guys are going to Stanford, Iowa State, Iowa ... they’re elite runners.”

And with that, Nauman found the necessary trash can, and expelled his lunch as a photographer lent him a towel.

He returned, and continued:

“The first lap, I got pushed around a little bit, but I kept going, going, going. I had so much energy.”

Tenth at the midpoint of the race, Nauman ran his final 400 in 54.7 seconds and won going away.

“Our coach told us to write down a goal, and I wrote, ‘Win a Drake flag and run 1:51 or 1:52,’” Nauman said. “He told us to tape it to the ceiling in our hotel room so you can see it in your sleep.

“I was sleeping with my eyes to the stars.”

Iowa City West repeats in the distance medley relay

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Iowa City West repeated in the 4x200 with the same cast as last year: Todd Rent, Izaiah Loveless, Aidan Jacobsen and Moustafa Tiea.

“It’s a great accomplishment for us to go back to back,” Loveless said. “It’s special for all four of us.”

In what a West coach called “perfect execution,” Rent and Loveless put the Trojans in prime position, and Jacobsen’s 49.1-second 400-meter effort landed Tiea on the heels of Ankeny ace Ethan Zuber.

“After what we did last year, I was confident we could all get it done,” Jacobsen said. “And when we got Moustafa the baton, nobody was going to stop him.”

Moustafa outdueled Zuber with a 1:54.5 anchor, and the Trojans repeated in 3:27.83. Ankeny finished in 3:28.32.

“I was sitting back, ready to shoot my shot,” Tiea said. “The hard part was saving that energy, make sure I didn’t get ahead of myself.”

Metro competitors earned a pair of runner-up finishes: Linn-Mar’s Sam Watts was second in the boys’ shot put (58 feet, 0 1/2 inches), and Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Quinton Alexander ran second in the 110-meter high hurdles (14.23).

The shot put competition was delayed mid-event for 90 minutes due to storms in the area.

“We re-warmed up. I started stretching and everything was connecting,” said Watts, bound to South Dakota State in the fall to play football. “It just felt right.”

Then he went out and established a career-best.

“I know what’s good, what’s bad,” he said. I was definitely peaking at the right time. I’d been hitting around 56 feet. I was destined for a pop.”

Hanson King of Pella won the event at 58-7.

As for Alexander, his effort placed second to Iowa Falls-Alden’s Jaden Domiano, who set a Drake record of 13.84 seconds.

“(Domiano) is a freak athlete; respect to him,” Alexander said. “I was a little nervous, just respect to No. 1. But I was a little disappointed. It should have been a PR (14.07).”

Drake Relays: Friday boys’ results

Shot put — 1. Hanson King (Pella), 58-7; 2. Sam Watts (Linn-Mar), 58-0 1/2; 3. Trevor Veenstra (Pella Christian), 57-2; 4. Nathan Rotherham (West Des Moines Dowling), 57-0 3/4; 5. Tory Wash (Vinton-Shellsburg), 54-4 1/2; 6. Preston Ries (Monticello), 53-4 3/4; 7. Maxwell Tiarks (Underwood), 52-7 3/4; 8. Ethan Thimmes (North Cedar), 51-7 1/4.

High jump — 1. Tyson Seeser (Camanche), 6-8; 2. Idris Thomas (Davenport West), 6-7; 3. Derek Weisskopf (Williamsburg), 6-5; 4. Ryan Little (Albia), 6-5; 5. Eli Patterson (Benton Community), 6-5; 6. (tie) Ryan Giberson (Fairfield), Wanding Hosnyang (Le Mars) and Jaron Bleeker (Sioux City Heelan), 6-3.

Distance medley relay — 1. Iowa City West (Rent, Loveless, Jacobsen, Tiea), 3:27.83; 2. Ankeny, 3:28.32;3. Urbandale, 3:31.09; 4. West Des Moines Dowling, 3:31.30; 5. Waukee, 3:33.91; 6. Norwalk, 3:34.22; 7. Johnston, 3:35.56; 8. Spirit Lake, 3:37.15.

110 hurdles — 1. Jaden Damiano (Iowa Falls-Alden), 13.84 (Drake record), 13.84; 2. Quinton Alexander (Cedar Rapids Prairie), 14.23; 3. Ashton Hogrefe (Western Dubuque), 14.41; 4. Brady Wallace (Treynor), 14.52; 5. Tyler Kenaga (Cedar Falls), 14.72; 6. Hunter Wauhob (Sioux City Heelan), 14.86; 7. Ethan Stecker (Spirit Lake), 15.07; 8. Garet Kiel (Oelwein), 15.15.

800 relay — 1. Adel ADM (Flora, Rychnovsky, Lohmann, Doll), 1:27.34; 2. Harlan, 1:27.52; 3. Ankeny Centennial, 1:27.60; 4. Iowa City West, 1:27.72; 5. Waukee Northwest, 1:28.91; 6. Cedar Rapids Prairie, 1:29.06; 7. Johnston, 1:29.33; 8. West Des Moines Dowling, 1:29.45.

800 — 1. Quentin Nauman (Western Dubuque), 1:52.22; 2. Tony Anania (Norwalk), 1:53.86; 3. Tommy Hensley (Urbandale), 1:54.30; 4. Tommy Tyynismaa (South Tama), 1:54.33; 5. Caleb Ten Pas (Des Moines Christian), 1:54.90; 6. Max DeRocher (West Des Moines Dowling), 1:55.00; 7. Jonas VanDis (Waukee), 1:55.73; 8. Carson Van Sickle (Ogden), 1:55.86.

100 — 1. Logan Fairchild (Ankeny), 10.62; 2. Aiden Flora (Adel ADM), 10.75; 3. Brevin Doll (Adel ADM), 10.76; 4. Kelley Gates (Decorah), 10.76; 5. Connor Welsch (Ankeny Centennial), 10.88; 6. Uriah Allen (Waukee), 10.91; 7. Angelo Jackson (Davenport Assumption), 10.99.

400 — 1. Jackson Johannes (Cedar Rapids Prairie), 47.67 (Drake record); 2. Braedin Zondervan (Carlisle), 47.72; 3. Jackson Belding (Ankeny), 47.83; 4. Logan Fairchild (Ankeny), 48.40; 5. Ryce Reynolds (Mount Ayr), 48.43; 6. Jashua Anglo (Johnston), 48.78; 7. Jaden Arnold (Dubuque Senior), 48.96; 8. Nathan Miller (Center Point-Urbana), 49.52.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com