Iowa City West makes an early statement

CEDAR RAPIDS — Kolby Greiner was running in his own little version of nirvana.

'It was perfect,' the sophomore from Iowa City West said, referring to the 50-degree conditions. 'For a distance runner, it was heaven.'

West's overall performance, that was awfully good, too.

The Trojans won seven events, including five of the last six, and ran away with the team championship of the John Ask Relays boys' track and field meet Tuesday night at Kingston Stadium.

West compiled 170 points. Cedar Rapids Prairie, the defending Class 4A state champion, was second with 101.

It's awfully early, but the Trojans don't appear to resemble last year's squad that finished 18th at the state meet. They are much, much better.

'I love what Coach (T.J. Craig) is doing,' said Greiner, who captured the 3,200- and 1,600-meter races. 'He says it's not about winning, but about the process.

'He's changing a lot of kids' hearts, and we're trying to get the program back to where it used to be.'

Greiner and Ali Ali went 1-2 in both distance events, with the former crossing the line in 9:48.11 and 4:33.29.

Derek Nugent flirted with the meet record in the 800, coming up a tad short in 1:58.21. Gabe Caruthers won the next event, the 200, in 22.68. They later teamed in the victorious 1,600 relay.

West also got wins from Austin West in the 400 hurdles and Alex Kleinow in the shot put.

The boys' format is expanded to 19 events this year with the addition of the sprint medley relay. May the record show that Cedar Rapids Kennedy won the first sprint medley at Kingston, in 1:35.15.

'I've wanted that event for the last three years,' said Kennedy anchor Jesse Price. 'I think we will be good at it. We've got sprinters to start it out, and we've got good 400 guys.'

Kennedy's Malik Haynes won the long jump with an effort of 22 feet, 1 1/2 inches, which gives him the early-season No. 1 slot in the state.

In other highlights:

• Prairie's Marty Borseth was a double-winner, in the 100 meters (11.40 seconds) and the high jump (6-2).

• Cedar Rapids Washington's sprinting crew of Malik Vance, Trey Leonard, Brayden Wright and Andrew Dostal raced to victories in the 800- and 400-meter relays in 1:31.55 and 44.09, respectively.

BOYS' TRACK & FIELD: JOHN ASK RELAYS

At Kingston Stadium

Teams — 1. Iowa City West 170, 2. C.R. Prairie 101, 3. Bettendorf 88, 4. C.R. Kennedy 72, 5. Linn-Mar 61, 6. C.R. Washington 60, 7. C.R. Jefferson 36.

Shot put — 1. Alex Kleinow (ICW), 53-4; 2. Cole Webster (Bett), 50-9 1/2; 3. Gerry Alt (CRW), 49-2 1/2; Discus — 1. Cole Webster (Bett), 166-1; 2. Jonathan Gannon (ICW), 148-7; 3. Riley Higgins (LM), 145-2; High jump — 1. Marty Borseth (CRP), 6-2; 2. Jared Sams-Merriwether (ICW), 6-2; 3. Suni Lane (Bett), 6-0; Long jump — 1. Malik Haynes (CRK), 22-1 1/2; 2. Carter Bell (Bett), 20-3 1/2; 3. Ezeki Leggins (CRJ), 20-2 1/2.

Sprint medley relay — 1. C.R. Kennedy (McCarty, Baker, Jones, Price), 1:35.15*; 2. Linn-Mar, 1:36.45; 3. Iowa City West, 1:38.34; 3,200 — 1. Kolby Greiner (ICW), 9:48.11; 2. Ali Ali (ICW), 9:50.58; 3. Samuel McDermott (CRW), 10:01.11; 3,200 relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Dolezal, Johnston, Long, Seitz), 8:23.45; 2. C.R. Prairie, 8:31.40; 3. Iowa City West, 8:32.53; Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. C.R. Prairie, 1:00.35; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 1:02.78; 3. C.R. Washington, 1:04.02; 100 — 1. Marty Borseth (CRP), 11.40; 2. Leo Desequeira (Bett), 11.46; 3. Andrew Dostal (CRW), 11.51; Distance medley relay — 1. C.R. Prairie, 3:44.51; 2. C.R. Jefferson, 3:54.92; 3. C.R. Washington, 3:59.16; 400 — 1. Darien Porter (Bett), 51.03; 2. Jesse Price (CRK), 51.25; 3. Chris Low (ICW), 52.84; 800 relay — 1. C.R. Washington (Vance, Leonard, Wright, Dostal), 1:31.55; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 1:32.14; 3. C.R. Jefferson, 1:32.42; 110 hurdles — 1. Joah Banks (CRP), 14.76; 2. Max Hill (ICW), 15.44; 3. Chavi Parks (CRP), 15.59; 800 — 1. Derek Nugent (ICW), 1:58.21; 2. Ethan Schmidt (LM), 2:01.15; 3. Jeff Garbutt (ICW), 2:03.70; 200 — 1. Gabe Caruthers (ICW), 22.68; 2. Jesse Price (CRK), 23.61; 3. Josh Anderson (Bett), 23.88; 400 hurdles — 1. Austin West (ICW), 57.18; 2. Nick House (LM), 57.48; 3. Max Hill (ICW), 57.69; 1,600 — 1. Kolby Greiner (ICW), 4:33.29; 2. Ali Ali (ICW), 4:39.20; 3. Cameron Steffens (CRP), 4:43.28; 400 relay — 1. C.R. Washington (Dostal, Wright, Leonard, Vance), 44.09; 2. Bettendorf, 44.60; 3. C.R. Jefferson, 44.87; 1,600 relay — 1. Iowa City West (Caruthers, Nugent, McAreavy, Mabry), 3:30.49; 2. C.R. Prairie, 3:35.05; 3. Linn-Mar, 3:36.74.

*meet record

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