Kennedy’s distance duo of Slader Buckheister and Adam Gray goes 1-2, twice

CEDAR RAPIDS — Slader Buckheister passed teammate Adam Gray, then apologized.

“Sorry about that,” Buckheister said after the 1,600-meter run, acknowledging that Gray “did most of the work.”

No apology necessary, Gray insisted.

“That felt good,” he said.

It felt good, twice.

A pair of juniors at Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Buckheister and Gray finished 1-2 in both the 3,200- and 1,600-meter races as the Cougars dominated the Cedar Rapids Invitational boys’ track and field meet Saturday at Kingston Stadium.

Kennedy won nine events and scored 208 points to headline the eight-team field. Linn-Mar was second with 129.5 points, followed by Center Point-Urbana (98).

In both races Saturday, Gray was the pacer. Buckheister was the kicker.

“I know I have that kick,” Buckheister said. “Adam’s great at keeping the pace. He has a lot of stamina.”

Buckheister was timed in 9:24.64 in the 3,200, 4:29.55 in the 1,600. Gray ran 9:25.02 and 4:29.80.

Both are likely to be among the Drake Relays field of 21 in the 3,200.

“We’re hoping we can both place in the top 10,” Buckheister said. “We should both be right there.”

It’s nice to have a training partner — “every day ... every single day,” Gray said — at this high of a level.

“It’s just been us two at most of the meets so far,” Gray added. “We haven’t really been pushed by anybody else yet.”

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Led by Ryan Bartels, Kennedy now has two relays ranked in the top five statewide.

Bartels ran on the winning shuttle hurdle crew that posted a season-best 58.94 seconds and remains at No. 5. He also competed on the 4x100 that went 42.49 seconds, jumping from 35th to No. 4.

Kennedy is the defending state champion in the 4x100.

“I feel really good about our shuttle team,” Bartels said. “Things will really come together once the wind dies down.”

Bartels also won the 110-meter highs in 15.20 seconds.

“The wind was tough, but it feels good to finish the race,” he said. “I’d been disqualified in my first two (outdoor) meets because I couldn’t pull up and touched the hurdle.”

Center Point-Urbana’s Nathan Miller ran the 400-meter hurdles for the first time this season, winning in a 55.61-second effort that puts him on the Drake Relays borderline, for now.

“I was really trying to qualify, and that pushed me,” said Miller, who also anchored CPU’s winning sprint medley relay. “I pretty much ran the way I wanted to. I (cleared) every hurdle.

“The wind was tough. I didn’t want to finish, but I had to keep pushing through.”

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Results

Teams — 1. C.R. Kennedy 208, 2. Linn-Mar 129.5, 3. Center Point-Urbana 98, 4. Dubuque Hempstead 88, 5. C.R. Jefferson 75, 6. C.R. Prairie 50, 7. Burlington 43.5, 8. C.R. Washington 43.

Shot put — 1. Shem Mally (Kennedy), 52-10; 2. Nelson Evans IV (Jefferson), 47-6; 3. Tyler Knight (CPU), 44-4 1/2.

Discus — 1. Nelson Evans IV (Jefferson), 148-6; 2. Carson Luense (Linn-Mar), 145-8; 3. Cohen Spurlock (CPU), 136-0.

High jump — 1. Brayden Peck (Kennedy), 6-2; 2. Donovan Crouchet (CPU), 5-10; 3. C.J. Owens (Burlington), 5-10.

Long jump — 1. Carter Andrews (CPU), 20-10 1/2; 2. Terrell White (Linn-Mar), 19-3 1/2; 3. Damarian Orr (Kennedy), 19-2 3/4.

Sprint medley relay — 1. Center Point-Urbana (Knight, Andrews, Maloney, Miller), 1:35.93; 2. C.R. Washington, 1:36.97; 3. C.R. Jefferson, 1:38.44.

3,200 — 1. Slader Buckheister (Kennedy), 9:24.64; 2. Adam Gray (Kennedy), 9:25.02; 3. Ethan Cheney (Linn-Mar), 9:36.56.

3,200 relay — 1. Dubuque Hempstead (Leitzen, Lange, Henn, Scherr), 8:23.98; 2. Linn-Mar, 8:39.84; 3. C.R. Prairie, 8:49.06.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. C.R. Kennedy (Goslin, Bartels, Richards, Peck), 58.94; 2. Linn-Mar, 1:04.53; 3. Dubuque Hempstead, 1:06.81.

100 — 1. Raquis Robinson (Jefferson), 11.17; 2. Chauncey Bodden (Kennedy), 11.49; 3. A.J. Maloney (CPU), 11.50.

Distance medley relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Crosen, Schuett, Sonenstahl, Hanson), 3:34.40; 2. Dubuque Hempstead, 3:34.41; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 3:47.01.

400 — 1. John Hynek (Prairie), 54.17; 2. Tristin Cerney (Linn-Mar), 55.41; 3. August Wilkes (Kennedy), 55.46.

800 relay — 1. C.R. Kennedy (Dougherty, Doyle, Peck, Bodden), 1:31.42; 2. C.R. Washington, 1:32.54; 3. C.R. Jefferson, 1:32.61.

110 hurdles — 1. Ryan Bartels (Kennedy), 15.20; 2. Jackson Goslin (Kennedy), 15.75; 3. Darias Bures (Linn-Mar), 16.78.

800 — 1. Lincoln McMahan (Kennedy), 2:02.46; 2. Ethan Cheney (Linn-Mar), 2:04.30; 3. Sammy Lange (Prairie), 2:04.79.

200 — 1. Harrison Schuett (Linn-Mar), 23.72; 2. Louis Smith (Kennedy), 24.11; 3. Bradley Walton (Kennedy), 24.17.

400 hurdles — 1. Nathan Miller (CPU), 55.61; 2. Jackson Goslin (Kennedy), 56.13; 3. Donovan Crouchet (CPU), 57.45.

1,600 — 1. Slader Buckheister (Kennedy), 4:29.55; 2. Adam Gray (Kennedy), 4:29.80; 3. Colin Henn (Hempstead), 4:51.39.

400 relay — 1. C.R. Kennedy (Dougherty, Doyle, Bartels, Bodden), 42.49; 2. C.R. Jefferson, 43.44; 3. Burlington, 43.77.

1,600 relay — 1. Dubuque Hempstead (Keehner, Fern, Harper, Brashaw), 3:26.75; 2. Linn-Mar, 3:28.65; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 3:37.20.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com