Iowa state track 3A boys’ results: Washington’s Elijah Morris captures 400 title

DES MOINES — As a sophomore whose first high school track and field season was a COVID-19 casualty, Washington’s Elijah Morris was a preseason mystery.

“I was going to be an 800 guy,” he said. “But (teammate Lance) Sobaski has me there. That shot me down to the 400.

“I’m OK with that now.”

You can’t call Morris an unknown any longer. Just a state champion. He raced to glory in the Class 3A 400-meter dash Thursday afternoon at Drake Stadium, in 49.53 seconds.

“It’s really cool,” he said. “Hopefully I can pull a couple more of these off.”

Morris got out well and maintained a slim margin throughout the race, winning by 12-hundredths of a second.

“The first 100, I was a little stiff,” he said. “I took a breath and got going.

“I’m in pain. My muscles don’t like the 400.”

Pella is the 3A boys’ team leader through five events, with 21.5 points. Adel ADM is second with 20, followed by North Polk (18) and Washington (16).

The 3,200-meter relay had been a back-burner event for Clear Creek Amana through much of the season.

“It really hadn’t been a primary focus,” Tom Johnson said. “It was just something we threw together for points.”

They spotlighted it Thursday, and the result was a third-place finish.

Gavin Zillyette, Cash Jensen, Brandon Barker and Johnson ran a school-record 7 minutes, 59.62 seconds.

“We thought maybe we could break a school record (8:05), but this caught all of us by surprise,” said Zillyette, who opened in 1:57.

Zillyette’s opening carry put CCA into the lead, then the Clippers ran second and third the rest of the way. Pella won the race in 7:55.14, then star anchor Nate Mueller’s 1:52.5 split pushed Adel ADM past CCA for second.

“I can truly say that (Mueller) is one guy I don’t mind getting chased down by,” Johnson said.

Ethan Patterson of Washington and Caden Ungs of Monticello were third and fourth in the high jump.

STATE TRACK & FIELD

At Des Moines

CLASS 3A BOYS

Teams (through 5 events) — 1. Pella 21.5, 2. Adel ADM 20, 3. North Polk 18, 4. Washington 16, 5. (tie) Charles City, Le Mars and Newton 10, 8. (tie) Dallas Center-Grimes, Dubuque Wahlert and Knoxville 8.

High jump — 1. Ian Collins (Charles City), 6-9; 2. Jack Noble (North Polk), 6-8; 3. Ethan Patterson (Washington), 6-1; 4. Caden Ungs (Monticello), 6-1; T-6. Colton Hoffman (Solon), 5-11.

Discus — 1. Brandon VanderSluis (Le Mars), 170-6; 2. Duke Faley (Dubuque Wahlert), 164-11; 3. Kody Huisman (Pella), 163-3; 7. Christian Nunley (West Delaware), 153-8.

3,200 — 1. Nate Mueller (Adel ADM), 9:13.84; 2. Aidan Ramsey (Dallas Center-Grimes), 9:16.90; 3. Quinton Orr (Humboldt), 9:35.00; 5. Eli Larson (Center Point-Urbana), 9:40.18; 6. Brady Hogan (Decorah), 9:42.56; 8. Shane Erb (Marion), 9:49.13.

3,200 relay — 1. Pella (Lauman, Miller, Wittenberg, Schmitz), 7:55.14; 2. Adel ADM, 7:59.17; 3. Clear Creek Amana, 7:59.62; 5. Western Dubuque, 8:10.85; 7. Monticello, 8:12.19; 8. Mount Vernon, 8:14.58.

400 — 1. Elijah Morris (Washington), 49.53; 2. Kieren Nichols (Knoxville), 49.65; 3. Tegan Bock (Boone), 49.83; 6. Marcus Beatty (Independence), 50.51.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com