Wins by Joens, 4x800 lift Prairie into 2nd

DES MOINES -- Sam Joens reached a zone of his own.

Joens claimed the Class 4A boys' discus title at the state track meet Thursday evening at Drake Stadium. But that doesn't even begin to describe his dominance.

The senior from Cedar Rapids Prairie had the top five throws of the competition, and six of the top seven. His final fling was best of all -- 184 feet, 6 inches.

"The last two weeks, I've worked really hard in the weight room," said the future Iowa Hawkeye. "I threw hard. It was time."

Joens took the lead with his first throw (177-9). Then came efforts of 171-8, 181-4, 167-2, 180-4, then the monster of 184-6.

"After the first throw, I could just go out and whip," he said. "No regrets, no worries."

Joens accomplished a lot Thursday, but he still ranks No. 2 all-time in his school -- and his family. His father, Scott Joens, still holds the mark at 185-4.

"I thought I had him on my final throw," Joens said. "But he still has the upper leg."

Joens' title, and another by Prairie's 3,200-meter relay team, put the Hawks in the thick of the 4A team race.

Southeast Polk leads it with 27 points through five events. Prairie is next with 20, followed by Linn-Mar (16).

"Prairie's here," said anchor Matt Stocker. "It's exciting."

Kyle Stocker, Ryan Smith, Justin Burns and Matt Stocker all turned in sub-2 splits in the Hawks' 7:54.56 effort. Matt Stocker closed it up in 1:56.3.

"The other guys did their jobs. I just had to grab the stick and go," he said.

Burns got the baton in third place, but by the time he concluded his 1:59.8 tour of duty, Prairie was on Indianola's heels.

"I can't really remember the race, but it felt good the whole way," Burns said. "I just wanted to gain as much ground as possible, and get it to Matt right up there at the front."

Kyle Dunn's up-again, down-again season was up again Thursday. He came out of the slow heat to win the 400 in 47.56 seconds.

"It's difficult to go out when you're not being pushed, but if you treat it like a time trial and push yourself, you don't have to worry about it," said Dunn, a senior at Linn-Mar who will run at Arkansas next year.

Dunn won last year's 400 in the fast heat, out of Lane 8.

Alec Clasen of Cedar Rapids Xavier was the high jump runner-up, clearing 6-6. Tyler Donels of Southeast Polk won at 6-8.

Both are juniors. Donels cleared 7-2 earlier this season.

"I guess I'm going to probably have to go 7 feet to win it next year," Clasen said.

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