Lisbon boys win pair of relays Friday to build Class 1A state track lead

DES MOINES — Lisbon already was the odds on favorite to collect its third straight state team championship.

Its two relay victories Friday morning were almost like insurance.

Wins in the 800-meter relay and distance medley relay catapulted the Lions to 42 points in the team race, nine ahead of second-place Ackley AGWSR.

'It's a ton of cushion because we know we're going to put up a ton of points (Saturday),' said senior Derek Bova. 'This just makes it even more reassuring.'

Lisbon's 800-meter relay crown was the first of its kind in school history, with the foursome clocking in at 1:30.35 out of lane eight. Montezuma was second, finishing in 1:31.70.

Junior Bryce Hasselmann knew since he was starting outside, he had to get a good jump off the blocks to give the relay a shot.

'I've got the fastest runners in the state anchoring me,' Hasselmann said. 'I knew if we got out fast we could get it.'

'When I saw Bova pulling down the backstretch, I just thought to myself, 'Get out and go,'' said senior anchor Jack Butteris. 'I didn't see anybody coming down the homestretch and I was like, 'We got this.' Keep loose, stay in form and it's over.'

Bova and Bailey Arwine joined Blake Langhurst and Payton Bahl in the distance medley relay, winning in 3:34.85. Langhurst pulled ahead of the field on his 400-meter leg and gave Bahl a good situation to close it out.

'I just ran scared like there was somebody on my butt the whole time,' Bahl said. 'I tried to run away from (everybody else). I saw them creeping up on the scoreboard on that last lap, so I had to kick it in and finish it out.'

Lone Tree's Niko Gosnell took second in the high jump at 6 feet, 5 inches. Cal-Wheat's Cole Moellers won his third state title in the event, jumping 6 feet, 8 inches. Midland's Alex Martens was third at 6 feet, 4 inches.

'Every time I scratched, when I got to the second one, I just thought, 'Dude this is your last year. You can't get out at like 6-2. What are you doing?'' Gosnell said. 'So I was kind of mentally smacking myself in the head like, 'Jump the bar.''

STATE TRACK & FIELD: CLASS 1A BOYS

Teams (through 10 events) — 1. Lisbon, 42; 2. AGWSR, 33; 3. Hudson, 25; 4. Pekin, 23; 5. Saint Ansgar, 21; 6. Lone Tree, 18; 7. North Union, 16; 8. Central Lyon, 15; 9. Fremont-Mills, 14; 10. Lynnville-Sully, 13

Results (top 3, area placwinners)

Discus — 1. Nathan Karsjens (AGWSR), 169-11; 2. Sam Phillips (Fremont-Mills), 168-06; 3. Theo Baldus (Saint Ansgar), 162-04; 7. Samuel Nemechek (Elkader Central), 137-09

High jump — 1. Cole Moeller (Calamus-Wheatland), 6-08.00; 2. Niko Gosnell (Lone Tree), 6-05.00; 3. Alex Martens (Midland), 6-04.00; 6. Jace Moore (Clayton Ridge), 6-00.00

DMR — 1. Lisbon (Bova, Arwine, Langhurst, Bahl), 3:34.85; 2. North Union, 3:35.48; 3. Pekin, 3:35.81; 6. Maquoketa Valley, 3:38.98

800 relay — 1. Lisbon (Hasselmann, Arwine, Bova, Butteris), 1:30.35; 2. Montezuma, 1:31.70; 3. Don Bosco, 1:31.82; 5. HLV, 1:32.70; 8. Elkader Central, 1:33.26

400 hurdles — 1. Cole Willert (Saint Ansgar), 53.61; 2. Tyson Vander Linden (Lynnville-Sully), 54.31; 3. Preston Davis (West Harrison, Mondamin), 55.68; 5. Ryan Miller (North Linn), 56.28

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