Williamsburg’s Owen Douglas wins crucial race to help Raiders share 2A boys’ state track team title

Douglas wins 200 and anchors 400-meter relay win as Raiders tie Mediapolis for championship

Rob Gray

May. 20, 2023 6:24 pm, Updated: May. 20, 2023 8:49 pm

Williamsburg's Owen Douglas (right) celebrates his win in the Class 2A boys’ state track and field 200-meter dash Saturday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

DES MOINES — Williamsburg’s Owen Douglas may be the smallest defensive tackle in the state.

But he’s also the fastest.

Douglas sprinted to a Class 2A 200-meter title Saturday during the state track and field meet at Drake Stadium, then anchored the Raiders’ gold medal-winning 400-meter relay. All those points proved to be highly consequential. Williamsburg tied Mediapolis for the 2A team crown — giving it its first state track and field team title since 2002.

“I think maybe me always having my hand down, maybe that helped with my starts,” Douglas said after finishing in 22.17 seconds to capture the 200-meter title. “The kid I just ran against said I had a good start, so if me playing defensive tackle helps, then, yeah.”

Williamsburg's Owen Douglas (right) gets nudged by Mediapolis' Anthony Isley in the final meters of the Class 2A boys’ state track and field 200-meter dash Saturday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Williamsburg’s second state track and field championship hinged on the type of toughness Douglas gleaned from toiling in the trenches. Both the Raiders and Bulldogs needed maximum points to ascend toward the top — and Douglas’ win in the 200 came by a mere .06 seconds. The second-place finisher in that event? Anthony Isley of Mediapolis. Reverse that razor-thin result and there’s no tie. Williamsburg would have finished second.

“I’ve been fighting for this championship spot,” Douglas said. “Now as a senior, fulfilling this and getting my individual championship, it just feels great.”

So, of course, does the team title. The Raiders defended their championship in the 400-meter relay, but winning — even if it involves sharing — a team crown trumps that accomplishment.

“Last year we got third place,” said Carson Huedepohl, who ran the first leg of the winning relay. “We wanted to try to win this whole dang meet.”

The journey wasn’t easy. Adversity struck throughout the season in the form of injuries and Clayten Steckly, who ran the second leg, almost sat out the track season because of his own health issues.

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“Coming back from a shoulder surgery, I didn’t know if I was gonna play basketball and skip track, or skip basketball and do track,” Steckly said. “I’m glad I picked this, Getting to run with my guys one last time, it was amazing.”

Mid-Prairie’s 4-peat ends, but Golden Hawks still take second

The Mid-Prairie girls’ amazing run of four straight 2A titles ended Saturday, but the Golden Hawks still managed to earn a runner-up finish. Mid-Prairie’s 400-meter relay team of Madeline Schrader, Amara Jones, Jovi Evans and Tabitha Evans finished second in a time of 49.90. Decorated distance runner Danielle Hostetler capped her junior season with an eighth-place finish in the 800 meters and a third-place finish in the 1,500. She won the 3,200 on Thursday and plans to be even better in 2024.

“It’s a lot of pressure, just knowing so many people are gunning for you,” Hostetler said. “But just to work my hardest and do my best — and if someone trained harder and beats me, then, you know, that’s what makes the world go round.”

MId-Prairie wheelchair athlete Jayden Stafford made three round trips to the victory stand. The sophomore swept titles in the 100, 200 and 400 on Saturday after finishing as a runner-up in each race last season.

“Getting to perform in front of thousands of people and friends, family, teammates — it’s just a bunch of emotions at once,” Stafford said.

Saturday’s Class 2A results

BOYS

Sprint medley relay — 1. Shenandoah (Dukes, Graham, Cullin, Razee), 1:32.99; 2. Red Oak (Couse, Fouts, Sifford, Kling), 1:33.57; 3. Williamsburg (Wetjen, Steckly, Cockrell, Heitman), 1:34.74.

800 — 1. Logan Rosas (Mediapolis), 1:56.18; 2. Isaac Swenson (Belmond-Klemme), 1:56.20; 3. Caleb Ten Pas (Des Moines Christian), 1:57.35.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. PCM (Fenton, Olson, Robbins, VanGorp), 1:00.46; 2. OABCIG (Ladwig, T. Kolar, B. Kolar, DeJean), 1:00.48; 3. Central Lyon (Van Beek, Austin, Eben, Vander Zee), 1:00.54.

100 — Talib Bird (Northeast), 10.81; 2. Owen Douglas (Williamsburg), 10.91; 3. Maurice Powell (Crestwood), 10.99.

110 hurdles — 1. Jaden Damiano (Iowa Falls-Alden), 14.20; 2. Beckett DeJean (OABCIG), 14.70; 3. Kasey Wirtjes (Denver), 14.81; 4. Garet Kiel (Oelwein), 15.09.

200 — 1. Owen Douglas (Williamsburg), 22.17; 2. Anthony Isley (Mediapolis), 22.23; 3. Ryan Leonard (Estherville Lewis Central), 22.40; 5. Braydon Osborn (Alburnett), 22.49.

1,600 —Collin Houg (Des Moines Christian), 4:19.07; 2. Aaron Fynaardt (Des Moines Christian), 4:22.43; 3. Solomon Zaugg (Mediapolis), 4:24.44; 6. Conall Sauser (Oelwein), 4:25.03; 8. Clay Bohlmann (Tipton), 4:28.53.

400 relay — 1. Williamsburg (Huedepohl, Steckly, Wetjen, Douglas), 42.70; 2. OABCIG (Winterrowd, Peters, DeJean, Behrendsen), 42.84; 3. Red Oak (Couse, Fouts, Sifford, Kling), 43.07.

1,600 relay — 1. Durant (Hollenback, Gast, Huesmann, DeLong), 3:22.51; 2. Alburnett (Marak, Neighbor, Carolan, Osborn), 3:23.38; 3. Mediapolis (Rosas, Arnold, Schmidgall, Isley), 3:23.78

GIRLS

Sprint medley relay — 1. Van Meter (Dubbin, Baumhover, Moore, Kelly), 1:48.33; 2. Pella Christian (Boender, A. DeBoef, M. Van Wyk, B. Vos), 1:49.16; 3. Mid-Prairie (Schrader, Decker, J. Evans, T. Evans), 1:49.89.

800 — 1. Madison Brouwer (Sibley-Ocheyedan), 2:13.67; 2. Clare Kelly (Van Meter), 2:14.71; 3. Mayson Hartley (Clarinda), 2:16.21; 7. Clare Wright (Jesup), 2:18.55; 8. Danielle Hostetler (Mid-Prairie), 2:19.13.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Sioux Central (Waldstein, Webber, Johannsen, Peterson), 1:04.67; 2. Ridge View (Shepherd, Freese, Mason, Jensen), 1:04.75; 3. Cascade (Curry, Green, Koppes, Simon), 1:06.20; 5. Alburnett (M. Neighbor, Olmstead, Caves, L. Neighbor), 1:07.93.

100 — 1. Jaidyn Sellers (Panorama), 12.06; 2. Jaslynn Dagel (Iowa Falls-Alden), 12.52; 3. Eden Moore (Van Meter), 12.55.

100 hurdles — 1. Clara Teigland (Treynor), 14.92; 2. Carlie Jo Fusco (Durant),15.01; 3. Abreiana Christoffer (Estherville Lincoln Central), 15.28; 7. Sydney Anton (Union Community), 15.79.

200 — 1. Jaidyn Sellers (Panorama), 24.98; 2. Natalie Demai (Denver), 25.59; 3. Meredith Van Wyk (Pella Christian), 25.84.

1,500 — 1. Madison Brouwer (Sibley-Ocheyedan),4:36.75; 2. Clare Kelly (Van Meter), 4:39.36; 3. Danielle Hostetler (Mid-Prairie), 4:40.80.

400 relay — 1. Denver (Clayton, Demai, Hildebrandt, Curtis), 49.80; 2. Mid-Prairie (Schrader, Jones, J. Evans, T. Evans), 49.90; 3. Davis County (VanLaningham, Utt, C. VanLaningham, Smith), 50.02.

1,600 relay — 1. Eddyville EBF (Jager, Van Utrecht, K. Shafer, M. Shafer), 3:56.70; 2. Denver (Decker, Curtis, Homan, Demai), 3:58.29; 3. Van Meter (Speltz, Moore, Fryar, Kelly), 4:01.93; 7. Williamsburg (Hughes, Long, Finn, Marovets), 4:06.04.

Comments: robgray18@icloud.com