Kennedy Boys Track

Kennedy boys share track title

DUBUQUE - The Kennedy Cougars tied Iowa City West for first place at the Class 4A boys state track qualifier in Dubuque Thursday.

The Cougars and Trojans both finished with 107 points in the incredibly tight standings. Prairie placed third with 105.5 points and Dubuque Senior was fourth at 104.

Derek Jacobus (long jump), Willie Rhoads (high jump) and Marcus Perkins (400 hurdles) won titles for Kennedy. The Cougars also claimed the shuttle hurdle relay in a swift 57.42 seconds and won the 4x200 relay.

Tysen VanDraska captured the 800 meter run for Prairie. The Washington Warriors won the 4x100 relay.

The Washington girls won three events at the coed meet. Amarri Waller claimed the 100 meter dash. The Warriors also won the distance medley and 4x100 relay.

Kenzie Soeken of Prairie won the high jump.

Boys Team Standings

1. (tie) Kennedy 107, Iowa City West 107, 3. Prairie 105.5, 4. Dubuque Senior 104, 5. Clinton 81, 6. Hempstead 67.5, 7. Washington 67, 8. Iowa City High 62.

Girls Team Standings

1. Iowa City West 148, 2. Iowa City High 147, 3. Kennedy 91, 4. Prairie 89, 5. Hempstead 77, 6. Dubuque Senior 71, 7. Washington 68, 8. Clinton 48.

Kennedy, Jeff boys win 5 events

DUBUQUE - The Kennedy Cougars and Jefferson J-Hawks came home from Dubuque Thursday with five gold medals from the MVC Mississippi Division boys track meet.

Kennedy claimed three victories with Willie Rhoads in the high jump (6-foot-6), Derek Jacobus in the long jump (21 feet, 11.75 inches) and Drew Heitland in the shot put (50 feet, 11.75 inches).

Jefferson won two events. Nate Karlan claimed the 200 meter dash (22.10 seconds) and joined Jacob Beaton, Dan Larson and Dylan Chittick on the victorious 4x200 relay (1:29.50).

The Cougars got second-place showings from Mark Schulz (800), Shaun Beyer (high jump), the 4x100 relay, the 4x200 relay and the shuttle hurdle relay. Kennedy got third-place finishes from Famiek Cook (100), Marcus Perkins (400 hurdles) and Dalles Jacobus (discus).

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Evans breaks 3200 record, but gets 2nd

DES MOINES - Josh Evans succeeded in breaking the state record in the 3200 meter run at the Drake Relays Thursday, but somebody else was a little faster.

Albert Meier of Boone became the first high school runner in state history to break 9 minutes in the 3200 meter run when he crossed the finish line in 8:58.46.

Evans, who gave Meier a good battle, had to settle for second place in 9:01.55. They both eclipsed the old state record of 9:04.33 set by Jon Thomas of Des Moines Roosevelt and both broke the old Drake Relays mark of 9:05.58 set by Kevin Lewis of Ottumwa in 2005.

"I wanted to run a great race and that's exactly what I got," said Evans,a senior at Linn-Mar. "I can't ask for anything more than that. I ran what I wanted to run, so I'm very happy."

Evans was hoping to break 9 minutes as well, but he got jostled at the start of the race and had to wipe water off his face during the eight-lap event. It was not raining during the race, but the track was wet from rains earlier in the day.

He survived the jostling, but was a little distracted by the water.

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Jenks, Evans lead Metro parade to Drake

Linn-Mar distance stars Stephanie Jenks and Josh Evans are poised to leave their mark on the Drake Relays again next week.

Jenks, a sophomore, is seeded first in the 1500 meter run, first in the 3000 meter run and second in the 800. She won the 1500 and 3000 at Drake last year as a freshman.

Evans, a senior, is seeded first in the 3200, third in the 1600 and 10th in the 800. He and his teammates are seeded No.1 in the 4x800 relay and the sprint medley, with Evans the anchor on both relays when they ran their best times.

Evans set a meet record at the Drake Relays last year when he captured the 1600 in 4 minutes, 10.86 seconds. He also finished second in the 3200.

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