Freaky fast: Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Quinton Alexander sets all-time Iowa best in 110-meter hurdles

CEDAR RAPIDS — A northerly breeze pushed him. Jimmy John’s fueled him.

Quinton Alexander was focused and fast.

Freaky fast, you could say.

Iowa’s fastest ever.

A senior at Cedar Rapids Prairie, Alexander established an all-time state best in the boys’ 110-meter hurdles at Tuesday’s Hawkins-Schwarz Relays at John Wall Field.

Alexander’s 13.64-second effort eclipsed the former state mark of 13.68, set last year by Jaden Damiano of Iowa Falls-Alden.

“It’s mind-blowing,” Alexander said. “Thirteen-sixty-four... oh my gosh.”

Yeah. Oh my gosh.

“I just focused in and thought about running my own race,” Alexander said. “I accelerated after each hurdle.

“I didn’t expect a state record today. I thought it would be about 14.1. No, that wasn’t 14.1.”

So, two Metro athletes etched their names in the state record book in back-to-back days: Linn-Mar’s Abby Mecklenburg set a new mark in the girls’ long jump Monday at Dubuque — 20 feet, 8 1/4 inches.

Earlier Tuesday, Alexander led off Prairie’s winning boys’ shuttle hurdle relay; the Hawks ran 1:01.32.

Then he retreated to his camp to refuel.

“Number 11 from Jimmy John’s,” Alexander said. “The Country Club.”

That’s a sandwich featuring turkey, ham, provolone cheese, lettuce and mayo.

Prairie swept the team championships Tuesday. The boys captured 12 events and scored 223 points. Linn-Mar was second with 119.

Depth carried the Prairie girls, who tallied 191 points. Marion (123) edged Solon (113) for second.

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When you get to late May, though, depth takes a backseat to star power, and Marion’s got plenty of the latter, enough to push for a Class 3A top-three state trophy.

“I’m very grateful for what we have,” sprinter Abby Cave said after the Wolves won five relays. “We’ve got some freshmen that have stepped up and have been super helpful.”

Meanwhile, the veterans have gotten better. With the likes of distance runners Kyra Cordes and Addison Dabroski, plus Cave and Kenzie Lovell in the sprints, there is flexibility to score big in just about any relay.

Tuesday, the Wolves ran a school-record 4:01.70 in the 4x400 (No. 5 in the state, all classes), and also won the 4x100, 4x200 and both medleys.

Lovell won the 100 in 12.18 seconds (No. 6 in the state), Cave claimed the 200 and Cordes ruled in the 800.

“I trained a ton over the winter,” Cave said. “I worked a lot on sprinting technique and getting out of the blocks.”

Prairie freshman Harper Groteluschen swept the 3,000 and 1,500, and the Hawks matched Marion with eight event wins.

Iowa’s all-time top five: Boys’ 110-meter high hurdles

1. Quinton Alexander, Cedar Rapids Prairie, 13.64, 2025

2. Jaden Damiano, Iowa Falls-Alden, 13.68, 2024

3. Jack Latham, Spirit Lake, 13.74, 2018

4. Riley Moss, Ankeny Centennial, 13.85, 2017

5. Brady Wallace, Treynor, 13.88, 2025

Girls Results

Teams — 1. C.R. Prairie 191, 2. Marion 123, 3. Solon 113, 4. Center Point-Urbana 83, 5. C.R. Xavier 66, 6. C.R. Jefferson 33, 7. C.R. Washington 32, 8. Marshalltown 25.

Shot put — 1. Tatum Goerdt (Prairie), 35-9; 2. Kate Shafer (Solon), 35-8; 3. Kamiyah Elders (Washington), 34-0 1/4.

Discus — 1. Kate Shafer (Solon), 115-4; 2. Madalynn Weber (Prairie), 112-9; 3. Piper Johnson (Solon), 97-8 1/2.

High jump — 1. Lyla Canny (Prairie), 5-2; 2. Macie Lupkes (Xavier), 5-0; 3. Ava Van Berkum (Xavier), 4-10.

Long jump — 1. Sofia Musick (Xavier), 16-3; 2. Piper Johnson (Prairie), 15-11 1/2; 3. Thierrina Wolotoh (Jefferson), 15-3 1/2.

Sprint medley relay — 1. Marion (Lovell, Dietz, Cave, Hansen), 1:52.93; 2. Solon, 1:53.97; 3. Center Point-Urbana, 1:55.31.

3,000 — 1. Harper Groteluschen (Prairie), 10:52.62; 2. Stella Rose (Prairie), 12:23.72; 3. Avanti Dunn (CPU), 12:26.91.

3,200 relay — 1. Solon (Nelson, Rolwes, Seamans, Fordice), 10:40.72; 2. C.R. Prairie, 10:44.09; 3. Marion, 10:44.94.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Joens, Frazier, Frese, Whitehill), 1:10.98; 2. C.R. Xavier, 1:15.28; 3. Center Point-Urbana, 1:16.16.

100 — 1. Kenzie Lovell (Marion), 12.18; 2. Asia Russell (Prairie), 12.41; 3. Avah Cooper (Prairie), 12.85.

Distance medley relay — 1. Marion (Case, Castillo, Carnes, Dabroski), 4:26.54; 2. Solon, 4:35.49; 3. Center Point-Urbana, 4:37.12.

400 — 1. Ava Graw (Washington), 1:03.84; 2. Jillian Elijah (Solon), 1:05.39; 3. Rowen Kelley (Prairie), 1:05.89.

800 relay — 1. Marion (Lovell, Dietz, Aarhus, Cave), 1:44.96; 2. Center Point-Urbana, 1:49.34; 3. C.R. Washington, 1:50.33.

100 hurdles — 1. Baylee Whitehill (Prairie), 15.66; 2. Olivia Neal (Xavier), 15.91; 3. Thierrina Wolotoh (Jefferson), 16.80.

800 — 1. Kyra Cordes (Marion), 2:24.10; 2. Reese Wiley (Prairie), 2:31.49; 3. Greta Hansen (Marion), 2:32.22.

200 — 1. Abby Cave (Marion), 25.78; 2. Ashlynn Hunter (Prairie), 26.76; 3. Marin Ashbacker (Solon), 27.53.

400 hurdles — 1. Paisley Joens (Prairie), 1:07.06; 2. Kennedy Hurlbert (Prairie), 1:16.03; 3. Addison Parker (Marion), 1:16.08.

1,500 — 1. Harper Groteluschen (Prairie), 5:03.11; 2. Mia Deegan (Xavier), 5:14.86; 3. Sydney McCormick (CPU), 5:18.76.

400 relay — 1. Marion (Lovell, Aarhus, Turner, Michaels), 51.40; 2. C.R. Prairie, 51.50; 3. C.R. Jefferson, 51.90.

1,600 relay — 1. Marion (Cordes, Dabroski, Dietz, Cave), 4:01.70; 2. Center Point-Urbana, 4:08.40; 3. C.R. Prairie, 4:08.70.

Boys Results

Teams — 1. C.R. Prairie 223, 2. Linn-Mar 119, 3. C.R. Xavier 80, 4. North Scott 76, 5. C.R. Jefferson 65.5, 6. Iowa City West 51.5, 7. C.R. Washington 50, 8. Marion 44.

Shot put — 1. Nelson Evans IV (Jefferson), 49-6 3/4; 2. Jace Tonne (Prairie), 48- 1 1/2; 3. Trey Feist (North Scott), 45-10 1/2.

Discus — 1. Christ Kelly Nelson (Prairie), 138-4; 2. Matthew Helle (Jefferson), 130-6 1/2; 3. Roby Swartzendruber (Prairie), 128-9.

High jump — 1. Mason Middleton (IC West), 5-10; 2. Max Dougherty (Xavier), 5-10; 3. Colt Hobson (Prairie), 5-10.

Long jump — 1. T.Y. Pour (Prairie), 21-8 1/2; 2. Denzil Green (Prairie), 21-2; 3. L.J. Elophe (Jefferson), 19-0.

Sprint medley relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Kurumeh, Nove, Peterka, Roelfs), 1:36.60; 2. C.R. Washington, 1:38.30; 3. C.R. Jefferson, 1:40.20.

3,200 — 1. Kyle Johnson (Prairie), 9:57.39; 2. Cole Carrizales (Prairie), 10:28.54; 3. Brayden Pettit (Linn-Mar), 11:03.66.

3,200 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Mulford, Allred, Miller, Lange), 8:26.81; 2. C.R. Xavier, 8:49.82; 3. Iowa City West, 8:50.21.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Alexander, Bush, Mai, Boxa), 1:01.32; 2. North Scott, 1:02.48; 3. Linn-Mar, 1:03.01.

100 — 1. Raquis Robinson (Jefferson), 10.78; 2. Jayden Stumpff (Prairie), 11.06; 3. Stephen Kurumeh (Prairie), 11.19.

Distance medley relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Byishimo, Cooling, Bennis, Lee), 3:36.00; 2. Linn-Mar, 3:59.21; 3. Marion, 4:00.50.

400 — 1. Carson Nove (Prairie), 52.27; 2. Kaleb Wilgenbusch (Xavier), 53.89; 3. Neilmiah Coleman (Jefferson), 54.47.

800 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Kpahn, Erickson, Peterka, Pour), 1:30.85; 2. Linn-Mar, 1:31.92; 3. C.R. Washington, 1:32.42.

110 hurdles — 1. Quinton Alexander (Prairie), 13.64 (all-time Iowa best); 2. Ryan Block (North Scott), 15.08; 3. Daniel Lorenz (Linn-Mar), 15.36.

800 — 1. Sam Showers (IC West), 1:59.12; 2. Yorton Hagedorn (North Scott), 2:06.35; 3. Sammy Lange (Prairie), 2:06.44.

200 — 1. Ryland Cooling (Prairie), 22.60; 2. Jayden Stumpff (Prairie), 22.90; 3. Beau Sonenstahl (Linn-Mar), 23.50.

400 hurdles — 1. Nolan Reese (North Scott), 1:00.33; 2. John Hynek (Prairie), 1:01.02; 3. Ryker Bennett (Prairie), 1:02.02.

1,600 — 1. Ethan Boston (Linn-Mar), 4:27.81; 2. Ethan Cheney (Linn-Mar), 4:30.42; 3. Cole Carrizales (Prairie), 4:37.38.

400 relay — 1. North Scott (Kruse, Johnson, Dickman, Block), 43.10; 2. (tie) C.R. Washington and Linn-Mar, 44.50.

1,600 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Franklin, Erickson, Miller, Roelfs), 3:30.10; 2. C.R. Washington, 3:38.30; 3. Linn-Mar, 3:41.10.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com