IOWA CITY — His team followed a superb season with a state meet that was, frankly, a bit of a downer.
Austin West blamed himself.
“I was a team leader, and I didn’t do a good job making sure the guys were ready,” West said of Iowa City West’s ninth-place finish in Class 4A last year.
“We’ve matured a lot since then. Our sprints, our hurdlers ... I’m excited about where we can be at the end of May.
The Trojans are plenty good in April.
West (as in Austin) picked up four gold medals Thursday at Bates Field/Raffensperger Track, and West (as in Iowa City) claimed the boys’ division of the Forwald/Coleman Relays for the third consecutive year.
The Trojans accumulated 160.5 points, compared to 128 by runner-up West Des Moines Valley. Linn-Mar (105) and Pleasant Valley (104.5) were third and fourth.
The meet was held on the final day before the qualification deadline for the Drake Relays.
A University of Iowa signee, Austin West was the champion in the long jump (22 feet, 1 inch), the 400 meters (49.63 seconds) and the 400-meter hurdles (a school-record 52.39). Then he anchored the Trojans to victory in the finale, the 1,600-meter relay. They were timed in 3:23.44.
“I ran clean (in the 400 hurdles),” West said after improving his state-best time. “I was aggressive on the backstretch. I was efficient. And I went hard with 100 left.
“It was the first time this season I’ve put together a complete race.”
The Trojans set two meet records. Landon Green heaved the shot 56-11, and the sprint medley relay unit ran 1:34.72.
West isn’t the Trojans’ lone star. They also have Gabe Caruthers (the champion on the 100 and 200, and a member of the sprint medley and 1,600 relay) and distance ace Kolby Greiner, who ran the 3,200 in 9:35.24.
Defending 4A state champion Waukee was the class of the girls’ field, scoring 184 points. West followed with 130.5.
West’s Bailey Nock (3,000 and 1,500) and Kitra Bell (long jump and 100 hurdles) were double champions.
Linn-Mar won just two events in the sixth-place finish, but both were meet-record efforts.
Payton Wensel blistered through the 800 in 2:11.08, which moved her to No. 1 in the state (she also leads in the 400, 400 hurdles, plus two relays).
Skyler Presler matched her career-best in the high jump, clearing 5-6.
“My steps are finally coming along,” Presler said. “My steps were good, and I was holding my arch (well).”
FORWALD/COLEMAN RELAYS
At Iowa City High
GIRLS RESULTS
Teams — 1. Waukee 184, 2. Iowa City West 130.5, 3. Pleasant Valley 114, 4. Iowa City High 93, 5. West Des Moines Valley 70, 6. Linn-Mar 68, 7. C.R. Kennedy 51.5, 8. Muscatine 27.
Shot put — 1. Kat Moody (Wau), 47-3; 2. Chandler Haight (ICW), 43-7; 3. Salima Omari (ICW), 37-5; Discus — 1. Madison Green (WDMV), 123-9; 2. Alexie Little (ICW), 119-0 1/2; 3. Chandler Haight (ICW), 111-0; High jump — 1. Skyler Presler (LM), 5-6*; 2. Sara Hoskins (PV), 5-3 1/2; 3. (tie) Alia Vanderhoef (ICH) and Kate Swenning (ICH), 5-0; Long jump — 1. Kitra Bell (ICW), 17-9; 2. Katie Severt (ICW), 17-8 1/4; 3. Dimia Burrell (LM), 16-7 1/2.
Sprint medley relay — 1. Iowa City High (Clark, Cooper, Kelly-Harvey, Lindsey), 1:51.90; 2. Waukee, 1:52.79; 3. Pleasant Valley, 1:54.59; 3,000 — Bailey Nock (ICW), 10:18.92; 2. Sydney Schaffer (Wau), 10:35.04; 3. Peyton Kelderman (Wau), 10:38.28; 3,200 relay — 1. Waukee (Kelderman, Hiscocks, Shepard, Groathouse), 9:48.54; 2. Pleasant Valley, 9:49.22; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 9:53.13; Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Waukee (Winger, E.Keplinger, A.Keplinger, Peters), 1:05.61; 2. Pleasant Valley, 1:07.04; 3. Linn-Mar, 1:07.86; 100 — 1. Elma Vojic (Wau), 12.41; 2. Amaria Kirby (PV), 12.43; 3. Grace Matera (WDMV), 12.69; Distance medley relay — 1. Iowa City West (Severt, Tellis, Shaw, Ince), 4:19.56; 2. Waukee, 4:29.46; 3. Iowa City High, 4:30.80; 400 — 1. Delaney Taylor (Wau), 1:00.82; 2. Logan Akason (Wau), 1:02.55; 3. Hallie Hanssen (Musc), 1:04.31; 800 relay — 1. Pleasant Valley (K.Arthofer, Kirby, A.Arthofer, Creasy), 1:44.50; 2. Linn-Mar, 1:46.68; 3. WDM Valley, 1:47.01; 100 hurdles — 1. Kitra Bell (ICW), 15.41; 2. Ellie Spelhaug (PV), 15.42; 3. Caroline Schaeckenbach (ICH), 15.56; 800 — 1. Payton Wensel (LM), 2:11.08*; 2. Lily Campbell (Wau), 2:13.91; 3. Jessica Caraway (Wau), 2:19.34; 200 — 1. Elma Vojic (Wau), 26.05; 2. Cheyenne Mitchell (CRK), 26.40; 3. Ainsley Schlicher (Wau), 27.25; 400 hurdles — 1. Caroline Schaeckenbach (ICH), 1:05.59; 2. Clare Basala (PV), 1:05.75; 3. Kate Bannister (Wau), 1:06.64; 1,500 — 1. Bailey Nock (ICW), 4:50.28; 2. Deniz Ince (ICW), 4:52.21; 3. Sydney Schaffer (Wau), 4:58.14; 400 relay — 1. Pleasant Valley (K.Arthofer, Creasy, A.Arthofer, Kirby), 48.99*; 2. Linn-Mar, 49.38; 3. Waukee, 49.71; 1,600 relay — 1. Waukee (Taylor, Peters, Caraway, Campbell), 4:01.01; 2. Iowa City High, 4:04.06; 3. Pleasant Valley, 4:11.62.
BOYS RESULTS
Teams — 1. Iowa City West 160.5, 2. West Des Moines Valley 128, 3. Linn-Mar 105, 4. Pleasant Valley 104.5, 5. Iowa City High 82, 6. C.R. Prairie 81, 7. Marion 52, 8. Muscatine 25.
Shot put — 1. Landon Green (ICW), 56-11*; 2. Jonathan Gannon (ICW), 52-1; 3. Sam Hanna (PV), 51-8; Discus — 1. Kaden Schilling (CRP), 165-5; 2. Jonathan Gannon (ICW), 161-8; 3. Riley Higgins (LM), 159-10; High jump — 1. Blair Brooks (Mar), 6-4 1/4; 2. Trayvon Williams (WDMV), 6-2; 3. Aquek Deng (WDMV), 6-0; Long jump — 1. Austin West (ICW), 22-1; 2. Treveon Fugate (WDMV), 21-2; 3. Miguel Vega (LM), 20-2 1/4.
Sprint medley relay — 1. Iowa City West (Steburg, White, Mabry, Caruthers), 1:34.72*; 2. WDM Valley, 1:35.35; 3. Iowa City High, 1:35.79; 3,200 — 1. Kolby Greiner (ICW), 9:35.24; 2. Parker Huhn (PV), 9:37.77; 3. Jack Pendergast (CRP), 9:46.80; 3,200 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (M.Laue, LaGrange, Jasa, R.Laue), 8:03.58; 2. WDM Valley, 8:07.58; 3. Iowa City West, 8:22.54; Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Kemokai, Reilly, Esker, Davis), 59.71; 2. WDM Valley, 1:00.40; 3. C.R. Prairie, 1:01.35; 100 — 1. Gabe Caruthers (ICW), 11.29; 2. Collin Ankton (PV), 11.31; 3. Tashawn Buchanan (WDMV), 11.33; Distance medley relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Williams, Vega, Martin, Long), 3:42.09; 2. WDM Valley, 3:45.74; 3. Muscatine, 3:47.40; 400 — 1. Austin West (ICW), 49.63; 2. Jacob Keller (WDMV), 51.14; 3. Zach Jones (ICH), 51.66; 800 relay — 1. WDM Valley (Samples, Gass, Mitchell, Weru), 1:31.78; 2. C.R. Prairie, 1:32.12; 3. Pleasant Valley, 1:32.72; 110 hurdles — 1. Trent Davis (LM), 14.76; 2. Cole Mabry (ICW), 15.32; 3. Kian Davis (CRP), 15.68; 800 — 1. Anthony Pena (PV), 1:57.89; 2. Tyler Olson (Musc), 1:57.93; 3. Daniel Brown (ICH), 1:58.71; 200 — 1. Gabe Caruthers (ICW), 22.32; 2. Arthur Braden (PV), 23.13; 3. Max DePrenger (ICH), 23.17; 400 hurdles — 1. Austin West (ICW), 52.39; 2. Zach Jones (ICH), 54.87; 3. Trent Davis (LM), 55.34; 1,600 — 1. Jeremy Fopma (Mar), 4:24.14; 2. Elijah Vlasek (CRP), 4:28.63; 3. Kole Sommer (PV), 4:29.02; 400 relay — 1. WDM Valley (Fugate, Buchanan, Mitchell, Sayon), 43.93; 2. Pleasant Valley, 44.70; 3. Linn-Mar, 44.87; 1,600 relay — 1. Iowa City West (McAreavy, Sims, Caruthers, West), 3:23.44; 2. C.R. Prairie, 3:24.97; 3. Iowa City High, 3:25.37.
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