City High nips Linn-Mar

By Jason Brummond

Correspondent

IOWA CITY - Relay exchange problems almost cost Iowa City High, but ultimately a bad handoff gave the Little Hawks a win.

City trailed Linn-Mar by seven points going into the 1,600-meter relay, the last event of last night's Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division boys' track meet at Raffensperger Track. The Lions just needed to stay close with the pack but dropped the baton on the first exchange and were disqualified.

The Little Hawks finished a close second in that relay to give them an even closer 118-117 win over Linn-Mar.

“What I love about this team is that nothing keeps them out,” said City's Tom Carey, who was named the MVC Mississippi Division's Coach of the Year.

“I'm really proud of the kids. I'm just so pleased that they pushed it to the wall.”

Things were so tight Carey didn't even know if his team could jump over Linn-Mar going into the final event. Even after Carey was told City had won, regardless of the final results of the 1,600 relay, he wasn't completely sure.

“I hope you're right,” he said.

It was enough for the Little Hawks, who were disqualified in the sprint medley because they ran out of a zone. That mistake wiped away a second-place finish and eight team points.

City's Dan Romerman won the 110 hurdles in 14.31 seconds, beating Linn-Mar's Brandon Ophoff for the first time this season.

Those were two big team points for the Little Hawks and Romerman, who lost to Ophoff twice this season.

Everything for City came down to the last two relays.

“I just knew we were close,” said Desmond McCalla, who anchored the 1,600 relay and helped the Little Hawks to a big win in the 400 relay.

Cedar Rapids Washington finished third with 108 points, followed by Dubuque Senior (71), Waterloo West (67), Cedar Rapids Kennedy (42) and Dubuque Wahlert (32).

City's shuttle hurdle relay team, which won the Drake Relays title last week and owned the fastest time in the state, took first in season-best 56.38 seconds. Seniors Mason Greer, Javon Duarte, Jeremy Johnson and Romerman broke the school record and the MVC meet record.

Cedar Rapids Washington's Robert Hogg was named Athlete of the Year. Hogg won the 800 (1:57.16) and helped the Warriors win the 3,200 and 1,600 relays. He finished second in the long jump.

Dubuque Senior's Dylan Eigenberger won the 1,600 meters in 4:21.00, edging Linn-Mar's Josh Evans by less than a second.

Waterloo West's Tyrell Martin won the 100 (10.84) and 200 (22.03).