IOWA CITY - This has turned out to be an outstanding year for prep high jumpers in Iowa.

Now you can add Alec Clasen of Xavier to the list.

Clasen cleared 6-foot-8 in the high jump Thursday to capture top honors at the Class 4A district meet in Iowa City and automatically qualify for the state meet next week.

Clasen eclipsed his personal best by two full inches.

"I was feeling pretty good," he said. "The weather was a lot nicer than it has been in my other meets. I'm excited about it."

Cedar Rapids Washington won the district title by a comfortable margin with 133 points on a hot day, serving notice that the Warriors plan to make a serious run at their third state title in a row in Des Moines May 19-21.

Cedar Rapids Prairie and Cedar Rapids Kennedy also had impressive performances and will be well-represented at the state meet at Drake Stadium.

Clasen already owned the Xavier school record in the high jump at 6-foot-6, but he left that mark in the dust. He easily cleared 6-5, 6-6 and 6-7 on his path to 6-8.

"Yeah, I was feeling pretty good going over them," he said.

He cleared 6-foot-8 on his third and final try, but could not go any higher. "I would have liked to get 6-9 today, that's for sure," he remarked.

Tyler Donels of Southeast Polk has cleared 7-foot-2 this season, just shy of the Iowa prep record of 7-3 1/2 set by Brian Tietjens of North Central in 1981. Trey Sathoff of Pekin has jumped 6-10 1/2 this spring, Jordan Cress of Olin has gone 6-10 1/4 and Nick Day of Solon has cleared 6-9.

Clasen knows he might have to jump higher than ever at the state meet. "I'm going to have to probably P.R. to place in the top three or four," he remarked.

Will Griffin was a triple-winner for Washington in the sprints Thursday. He captured the 100 and 200 dashes and helped the Warriors win the 4x200 relay. Etienne Nzoyisaba won the 3200 for Washington to punch a ticket to state.

Matt Stocker was a double-winner in the 800 and 1600 for Prairie, nudging his twin brother Kyle in both events. Sam Joens won the discus, Tom Frieden claimed the 400 hurdles and Kyle Stocker anchored the 4x800 relay to victory for the Hawks.

Anthony Crawley had a big day for Kennedy. He won the 400 and anchored the distance medley and 4x400 relay to the victory circle.

District champions automatically qualify for the state meet. Individuals who finished second, third or fourth will qualify for state if they beat a statewide standard. The same holds true for relay teams.

Additional state qualifiers will be announced by the IHSAA on Friday.

Some of the notable Metro performers who stand a good chance of qualifying include Caleb Mere of Kennedy in the long jump, Alex Carr of Washington in the 100, and Kyle Stocker in the 800 and 1600. Washington also hopes to send its 4x100 relay.

CLASS 4A DISTRICT MEET
At Iowa City High

Team Standings

1. Washington 133, 2. Prairie 107, 3. Iowa City West 105, 4. Iowa City High 96, 5. (tie) Kennedy 80, Xavier 80, 7. Jefferson 52, 8. Muscatine 49.

High Jump
1. Alec Clasen (CRX) 6-8; 2. Jeremy Johnson (ICH) 6-7; 3. Griffen Gaeta (MUSC) 6-2; 4. Dondre Alexander (ICW) 6-2; 5. Keith Clay (ICW) 6-1; 6. Cameron Spears (ICH) 6-1.

Discus
1. Sam Joens (CRP) 169-4; 2. Derek Norland (ICW) 150-2; 3. Craig Murtha (CRX) 148-7; 4. Kody Dailey (ICH) 142-4; 5. Nick Beckman (ICH) 140-8; 6. Isaac Ales (MUSC) 139-7.

Long Jump
1. Bobby Millard (ICH) 22-7 3/4; 2. Caleb Mere (CRK) 22-3 1/4; 3. Jasper Washington (ICH) 21-6 1/4; 4. Robert Hogg (CRW) 21-01/4; 5. Richard Bryant (ICW) 20-11; 6. Sam Joens (CRP) 20-9.

Shot Put
1. Isaac Ales (MUSC) 53-7 1/2; 2. Derek Norland (ICW) 47-3 3/4; 3. Chase Kleopfer (CRX) 46-10 1/2; 4. Storhm Henry (CRW) 46-6 1/4; 5. Ryan Eivins (CRJ) 45-3; 6. Kody Dailey (ICH) 44-10.

3200 Meter Run
1. Etienne Nzoyisaba (CRW) 9:45.45; 2. Daniel Gardarsson (ICW) 9:45.65; 3. Isaac Jensen (ICW) 9:51.98; 4. Mitch Pritts (CRP) 9:54.01; 5. Trevor Oates (CRK) 9:59.73; 6. Zach Greimann (ICH) 10:06.15.

4x800 Relay
1. Prairie (Ryan Smith, Jordan Burns, Justin Burns, Kyle Stocker) 8:02.68; 2. Iowa City West 8:06.00; 3. Jefferson (Timauntay Jones, Peter Thullen, Matthew Hildebrand, Joe Kelly) 8:06.99; 4. Iowa City High 8:07.01; 5. Muscatine 8:19.87; 6. Washington (Laurent Hakizimana, Saromo Mugisha, Brenice Ndayizeye, Andrew Mugemangango) 8:32.99.

Shuttle Hurdle Relay
1. Iowa City West 57.98; 2. Kennedy (jake Losch, Tom Kaiser, Caleb Mere, Josh Jahlas) 58.47; 3. Iowa City High 58.56; 4. Washington (Drake Hickok, Adam Sailor, Forest Vega, Antonio Johnson) 58.94; 5. Muscatine 59.97; 6. Xavier (Justin Fenske, David Kirpes, Josh Nelson, Carter Valentine) 1:00.19.

400 Meter Dash
1. Anthony Crawley (CRK) 50.37; 2. Demetrius Harper (CRP) 50.73; 3. Sterling Harris (ICH) 51.39; 4. Nicolas Corbett (CRW) 51.80; 5. Austin Short (CRJ) 52.24; 6. Aaron Peller (ICW) 52.31.

4x200 Relay
1. Washington (Alonzo Carr, Kristopher Gardner, Will Griffin, Alex Carr) 1:28.73; 2. Iowa City West 1:29.49; 3. Xavier (Nick Ball, Eric Zenisek, Jordan Weber, Eric Hovda) 1:29.85; 4. Iowa City High 1:30.38; 5. Jefferson (Sam Otis, Chance Tiedtke, Ryan Deerberg, Nate Karlan) 1:31.87; 6. Kennedy (Josh Jahlas, Alex Hillyer, John Koelling, Jed Haycraft) 1:33.35.

110 Meter Hurdles
1. Jared Hetzler (MUSC) 14.95; 2. Carter Valentine (CRX) 15.08; 3. Lucas Brenneman (ICW) 15.14; 4. Dan Roemerman (ICH) 15.22; 5. Drake Hickok (CRW) 15.23; 6. Antonio Johnson (CRW) 15.36.

1600 Meter Run
1. Matt Stocker (CRP) 4:31.17; 2. Kyle Stocker (CRP) 4:31.43; 3. Robert Hogg (CRW) 4:32.56; 4. Etienne Nzoyisaba (CRW) 4:33.21; 5. Tom Singer (CRK) 4:34.85; 6. Ben Schueler (CRX) 4:41.17.

100 Meter Dash
1. Will Griffin (CRW) 10.83; 2. Alex Carr (CRW) 11.01; 3. Nate Karlan (CRJ) 11.18; 4. Eric Hovda (CRX) 11.34; 5. Nick Steingreaber (CRX) 11.53; 6. Alex Hillyer (CRK) 11.57.

200 Meter Dash
1. Will Griffin (CRW) 22.20; 2. Eric Hovda (CRX) 22.53; 3. Kristopher Gardner (CRW) 22.77; 4. Nate Karlan (CRJ) 23.16; 5. Nick Steingreaber (CRX) 23.58; 6. Peter Krumm (ICH) 23.66.

Distance Medley
1. Kennedy (Caleb Mere, Alex Hillyer, Jed Haycraft, Anthony Crawley) 3:37.32; 2. Washington (Alonzo Carr, Kristopher Gardner, Alex Carr, Trevor Luebe) 3:38.45; 3. Prairie (Austin Dellamuth, Demetrius Harper, Tristan Beyer, Matt Stocker) 3:38.56; 4. Muscatine 3:38.92; 5. Iowa City High 3:39.49; 6. Jefferson (Sam Otis, Ryan Deerberg, Austin Short, Matthew Hildebrand) 3:42.02.

400 Meter Hurdles
1. Tom Frieden (CRP) 55.49; 2. Jake Losch (CRK) 55.76; 3. Drake Hickok (CRW) 55.91; 4. Lucas Brenneman (ICW) 57.94; 5. Miles Barton (CRW) 58.39; 6. Mohamed Traore (ICH) 58.43.

800 Meter Run
1. Matt Stocker (CRP) 1:56.98; 2. Kyle Stocker (CRP) 1:57.49; 3. Timauntay Jones (CRJ) 1:57.90; 4. Robert Hogg (CRW) 1:57.91; 5. Tom Singer (CRK) 2:03.01; 6. Kaleb Greiner (ICW) 2:03.32.

4x100 Relay
1. Iowa City West 42.67; 2. Washington (Alonzo Carr, Will Griffin, Kristopher Gardner, Alex Carr) 42.71; 3. Xavier (Nick Ball, Eric Zenisek, Jordan Weber, Eric Hovda) 42.85; 4. Iowa City High 43.36; 5. Jefferson (Sam Otis, Nate Karlan, Austin Short, Chance Tiedtke) 44.16; 6. Muscatine 44.98.

4x400 Relay
1. Kennedy (Jake Losch, Josh Jahlas, Jed Haycraft, Anthony Crawley) 3:25.65; 2. Prairie (Tristan Beyer, Tom Frieden, Austin Dellamuth, Demetrius Harper) 3:26.13; 3. Iowa City High 3:26.88; 4. Xavier (Brandon Gradoville, Zach Stovie, A.J. Worden, Jordan Weber) 3:30.24; 5. Jefferson (Dylan Chittick, Ryan Deerberg, Hunter Scott, Alex Baxter) 3:31.96; 6. Muscatine 3:33.26.