Check(er)mate! Prairie roars to its first state track crown

DES MOINES — A checker-patterned wave took over Drake Stadium on Saturday. In its wake is a piece of history for Cedar Rapids Prairie.

Jalen Rima completed a four-title weekend, and Prairie stormed from behind to claim the Class 4A boys' championship, its first.

'It wasn't perfect, but boy, it was really close to perfect,' Coach Bill Schwarz said.

Rima won the 100 and 200 Saturday (he claimed the 400 on Thursday), and anchored the 400-meter relay team from behind. Joah Wallace added the 110-meter hurdles title, and a pair of runner-up finished by Tysen VanDraska put the Hawks over the top.

Twenty-seven points out of the lead at the start of the day, the Hawks turned the 4A field on its ear and finished with an 87-point total. Cedar Falls was second with 70 points, followed by Cedar Rapids Kennedy (63) and West Des Moines Dowling (61.5).

'We just feed off the haters,' said Rima, who is headed to the University of Northern Iowa. 'People don't think we can do what we can do.'

Rima was asked who those 'haters' are.

'It's mostly online,' he said. 'Nobody says anything to us (directly).'

Rima was the 200 and 400 champion last year, then branched out further this spring.

'I got a lot of help at practice from my coaches,' he said. 'I've worked on my start a lot. I changed how my feet were in the blocks.'

Rima ran the 100 in 10.86 seconds, the 200 in 21.40. Then he brought the Hawks from behind in the 400 relay. Prairie was timed in 42.01, just ahead of Cedar Rapids Washington (42.09).

Wallace, Trevor Northrup and Marty Borseth ran the first three legs.

'To be a part of this, it's an honor and a privilege,' Northrup said.

He pointed at Rima: 'This guy keeps us pumped up every day.'

Wallace didn't run last year, but joined the team because he knew it was capable of something special this spring.

The Hawks delivered, and so did Wallace. His effort of 14.06 in the high hurdles is a 4A state-meet record.

'We did what we wanted to do,' he said. 'I love this team. It's the best thing I could ask for.'

VanDraska ran second to Dowling's Ryan Schweizer in the 800 (1:53.78) and the 1,600 (4:17.42).

'I wanted to match Schweizer, but he just got out faster,' VanDraska. 'Second place to that guy, you can't be too upset with that.'

VanDraska was part of a cross country team title at Prairie in 2013. Now, he has added a track crown.

'We came out and put on a good show at Drake (winning the Hy-Vee High School Cup),' VanDraska said. 'A lot of people didn't think we'd win the big one here.'

Andrew Dostal, Alex Herzog, Trey Leonard and Isaiah Nimmers ran on Washington's second-place 400-meter relay team. Kennedy's Austin Coates, Terrell Jordan Jr., Keeler Dix and Shaun Beyer completed the shuttle hurdle relay in 56.11, second to Waukee's 56.09.

STATE TRACK & FIELD: CLASS 4A BOYS

Teams (top 10) — 1. Cedar Rapids Prairie 87, 2. Cedar Falls 70, 3. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 63, 4. West Des Moines Dowling 61.5, 5. Waukee 42, 6. Cedar Rapids Washington 35, 7. West Des Moines Valley 31, 8. Sioux City East 27, 9. (tie) Bettendorf and Ames 23.

Results (top 3, plus area)

800 — Ryan Schweizer (West Des Moines Dowling), 1:50.30*; 2. Tysen VanDraska (Cedar Rapids Prairie), 1:53.78; 3. Hunter Lavallee (Cedar Falls), 1:54.02; 5. Matt Lorenz (Cedar Rapids Prairie), 1:54.71.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Waukee (Renshaw, Wessels, McCrary, Halligan), 56.09; 2. Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 56.11; 3. Cedar Rapids Prairie, 56.64; 4. Cedar Rapids Washington, 56.84; 6. Linn-Mar, 56.97; 7. Iowa City High, 57.09.

100 — 1. Jalen Rima (Cedar Rapids Prairie), 10.86; 2. Tavien Gardner (Urbandale), 11.04; 3. Tayshaun Cooper (Waterloo West), 11.06; 4. Alex Herzog (Cedar Rapids Washington), 11.15; 8. Andrew Dostal (Cedar Rapids Washington), 11.35.

110 hurdles — 1. Joah Wallace (Cedar Rapids Prairie), 14.06*; 2. Jack Wilson (West Des Moines Valley, 14.23; 3. Duane Sleet (Davenport Central), 14.62; 5. Shaun Beyer (Cedar Rapids Kennedy), 14.66; 6. Terrell Jordan Jr. (Cedar Rapids Kennedy), 14.76.

200 — 1. Jalen Rima (Cedar Rapids Prairie), 21.40; 2. Tayshaun Cooper (Waterloo West), 21.79; 3. Dom Flemister (Sioux City East), 22.01; 8. Wali Parks (Iowa City West), 22.82.

1,600 — 1. Ryan Schweizer (West Des Moines Dowling), 4:14.70; 2. Tysen VanDraska (Cedar Rapids Prairie), 4:17.42; 3. Matt Fraizer (West Des Moines Dowling), 4:17.47; 5. Patrick Karanja (Iowa City West), 4:19.45.

400 relay — 1. Cedar Rapids Prairie (Wallace, Northrup, Borseth, Rima), 42.01; 2. Cedar Rapids Washington, 42.09; 3. Ames, 42.41; 6. Western Dubuque, 42.81.

1,600 relay — 1. Cedar Falls (Hoy, O'Hair, Smith, Lavallee), 3:16.85; 2. Waukee 3:17.50; 3. Lewis Central 3:20.09; 4. Iowa City West, 3:20.88; 5. Western Dubuque, 3:21.54; 7. Iowa City High, 3:22.44.

*4A state-meet record

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com