Two titles in two days: Quentin Nauman, Landon Prince add to their gold haul

DES MOINES — Friday was a new day.

But the storylines — and the stars — remained the same in the high school boys’ section of the Drake Relays.

Clear Creek Amana’s Landon Prince wrapped up a sweep of the throwing events. And Western Dubuque’s Quentin Nauman made it a distance double.

“It was deja vu from (Thursday) night,” Nauman said after racing past his rivals in the second lap and winning the 800 meters in 1 minute, 51.76 seconds Friday afternoon at Drake Stadium.

“I just had to keep those guys in reach.”

If you don’t know by now, here’s a lesson: If you’re in Nauman’s range and in his sights late in the race, you’re probably toast.

A final lap of 55.7 seconds vaulted Nauman to the 3,200-meter triumph (in 8:52.45) Thursday. This time, he closed in 53.9.

“It was the same strategy as last time,” he said. “I knew they all had a kick. Once I make that pass, I have to work with it.”

Iowa City West’s Moustafa Tiea (1:50.40) and Des Moines Christian’s Caleb Ten Pas (1:51.51) came into Friday with the state’s best times this season.

Nauman wasn’t fazed.

“I don’t pay attention,” he said. “Once you toe the line, (previous) times don’t matter. You can throw them out the window.”

Nauman, a junior, will pursue the 1,600-meter title Saturday.

Prince, meanwhile, became the sixth Iowa high school boy to complete a Drake shot/discus sweep. His fourth throw — a career-best 185 feet, 0 1/4 inches — gave him plenty of breathing room.

“After the prelims, I took a couple of extra throws, and I had the thought that I was going to launch one,” Prince said. “I could tell by the wobble, the way it came off my hand, that it was a solid throw.”

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Prince’s progress, from junior year to senior, has been startling — from 47 feet to 62 in the shot, from 167 feet to 182 in the discus.

“A lot of technical work,” he said.

Center Point-Urbana’s Nathan Miller very nearly pulled off the stunner of the weekend.

The overall No. 9 seed, Miller won the first heat in 48.84 seconds. Heat 2 leader Jashua Anglo of Johnston also went 48.84.

Take it out one more decimal point, and it was 48.836 for Anglo, 48.838 for Miller.

Two-thousandths of a second.

“I didn’t think I had a chance,” Miller said. “I thought (the second heat) would go way faster. It’s just crazy.”

Quinton Alexander of Cedar Rapids Prairie underwent both ends of the emotional spectrum in the 110-meter hurdles.

In the preliminaries, he reset his all-time Iowa best — 13.55 seconds.

But he nicked the ninth hurdle in the final, lost his rhythm and couldn’t recover. He placed fourth (14.18), while Brady Wallace of Treynor won in 13.80 seconds.

“I just wasn’t used to that much pressure, guys so close to me,” Alexander said. “I’ll use today as motivation.”

Clear Creek Amana’s Tay Seals experienced similar ups and downs.

The sophomore was right with Alexander and Wallace late in the 110 highs before falling. He finished fourth in the open 100.

“I was disappointed with the highs, but I’ll be back,” Seals said. “I really wanted to prove myself early, as a sophomore. I was running well in the highs — I was in full-go mode — but I made one little mistake.

“I’m so ready for state. I can’t wait.”

Iowa City West was third in the distance medley and 4x200 relays, and West’s Colin Whitters finished third in the discus.

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Drake Relays: Friday’s boys results

Discus — 1. Landon Prince (Clear Creek Amana), 185-0 1/4; 2. Carson McInerney (Sioux City Heelan), 174-3 3/4; 3. Colin Whitters (Iowa City West), 172-5 1/2; 4. Grant Gray (Northeast), 168-1 3/4; 5. Ambrose Savage (Lamoni), 161-2 3/4; 6. Aiden Curtis (Indianola), 160-9 3/4; 7. Daxon Kiesau (Urbandale), 158-2; 8. Elite Mbulekoya (Iowa City West), 157-10 1/2.

Distance medley relay — 1. West Des Moines Dowling (Drexler, Miller, Lembechwa, Wolfe), 3:25.35; 2. Norwalk, 3:29.22; 3. Iowa City West, 3:29.49; 4. Algona, 3:31.33; 5. Okoboji, 3:31.72; 6. Des Moines Roosevelt, 3:32.05; 7. Muscatine, 3:32.07; 8. Cedar Falls, 3:32.65.

110 hurdles — 1. Brady Wallace (Treynor), 13.80; 2. Cooper Winkel (Spirit Lake), 13.98; 3. Koby Higginbotham (Knoxville), 14.15; 4. Quinton Alexander (Cedar Rapids Prairie), 14.18; 5. Hunter Wauhob (Sioux City Heelan), 14.33; 6. Cael Woods (Ankeny Centennial), 14.52; 7. Waleed Ibrahim (Iowa City West), 14.68.

800 relay — 1. Ankeny Centennial (McGhee, Woods, Reed, Jackson), 1:26.55; 2. Newton, 1:27.11; 3. Iowa City West, 1:27.82; 4. Southeast Polk, 1:27.96; 5. Cedar Falls, 1:27.98; 6. Johnston, 1:28.07; 7. Gilbert, 1:28.19; 8. West Des Moines Dowling, 1:28.26.

800 — 1. Quentin Nauman (Western Dubuque), 1:51.76; 2. Caleb Ten Pas (Des Moines Christian), 1:52.02; 3. Ethan Zuber (Ankeny), 1:53.45; 4. Owen Wolfe (West Des Moines Dowling), 1:53.47; 5. Brennen Hoyer (Cedar Falls), 1:53.59; 6. Jack Meggison (Dallas Center-Grimes), 1:54.11; 7. James Foreman (Orange City), 1:54.12; 8. Canaan Dunham (Pella), 1:54.93.

100 — 1. Luke Nevitt (West Des Moines Dowling), 10.57; 2. Ben Frazier (Waterloo West), 10.61; 3. Connor Kunze (Nevada), 10.64; 4. Tay Seals (Clear Creek Amana), 10.64; 5. Deztin McMurrin (Waterloo West), 10.76; 6. Caden Klein (Newton), 10.78; 7. Harry Mullens (Pella), 10.82; 8. William Anderson (Logan-Magnolia), 10.84.

400 — 1. Jashua Anglo (Johnston), 48.84; 2. Nathan Miller (Center Point-Urbana), 48.84; 3. Kolby Hodnefield (South Hamilton), 48.96; 4. Riley Graber (Monroe PCM), 49.17; 5. Caden Klein (Newton), 49.26; 6. Jordan Townsend (Cedar Falls), 49.30; 7. Evan Osler (Okoboji), 49.41; 8. Josiah DeYoung (Waukee Northwest), 49.56.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com