Kennedy Boys Track

Nick Corbett running away from politics

Nick Corbett will leave running for political office to his father. He just likes to run on an all-weather track, and he's becoming very good at it.

Corbett blazed to victory in the 400 meter dash in 50.78 seconds Saturday at the John Ask Relays and anchored Cedar Rapids Washington to an impressive win in the 4x400 relay.

His father, Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett, was in Mexico on city business Saturday and unable to attend the meet on a cool day at Kingston Stadium, but he was rooting for his son from afar.

"He texted me this morning," Corbett said after his strong showing in the open 400. "He said 'good luck,' so that was nice of him. He's always rooting for me."

Corbett, a junior at Washington, said he has no political ambitions of his own. "I try to stay away from politics," he said. "It's not my thing."

Corbett qualified for the 400 meter dash at the Class 4A state meet last year as a sophomore, but finished 23rd and dead last in Des Moines. "If he qualifies this year, I guarantee he won't be dead last again," Washington distance coach Will Harte remarked.

Corbett's personal best in the 400 last year was 51.9 seconds, so he's already chopped more than a second off his P.R. and the season is just starting to heat up. He'd love to crack 50 seconds and appears well on his way.

"I hope so," he said. "I was definitely happy with my time today. It's what I've been working for."

The Warriors put a strong 4x400 unit together with Drake Hickok, Noah Dostal, Robert Hogg and Corbett clocked in a winning time of 3:27.44, which would have been good enough to place at state last year.

Iowa City West won the John Ask title with 330 points. Linn-Mar finished second with 303 markers, followed by Bettendorf, Washington, Prairie, Jefferson and Kennedy.

The Linn-Mar Lions won five events to reinforce their status as the top boys track team in the Metro area at this point. Brandon Ophoff claimed two of those victories by taking the 110 high hurdles in 14.69 seconds and notching the 400 low hurdles in 55.47 seconds.

Ophoff also ran the opening leg on Linn-Mar's victorious shuttle hurdle relay with Mike Keiser, Ryan Wirth and Colton Sanchez in 1:00.22. The Lions also took the 4x800 relay with Jabez Walker, Duggan Trenary, Tanner Rathje and Matt Simon in 8:04.98.

Linn-Mar junior Josh Evans, the runnerup at the Class 4A state cross country meet last fall, won the 1600 in 4:31.16 and placed second in the 3200 in 9:36.35.

"I was really happy with my times today. I think it's been a good season so far," he said after winning the 1600.

Evans trailed Daniel Gardarsson and Bailey Wetherell of Iowa City West on the final lap of the 1600 and appeared to be fading, but he picked up the pace in the final 200 meters and won by more than two seconds.

"I said I'm not going to let them go. I stayed on those guys," Evans remarked of his strong kick. "We got to the back stretch and I felt I could probably go by one of them.

"I just felt strong," he said. "It was fun. It was a good race."

Cedar Rapids Jefferson junior Timauntay Jones left a calling card at Kingston Stadium by claiming the 800 meter run in 1:58.51. He also finished second in the 400 behind Corbett in 51.76.

Cedar Rapids Prairie won the sprint medley in 3:36.59 with Austin Dellamuth, Demetrius Harper, Tristan Beyer and Jacob Aune carrying the baton.

Kennedy sophomore Derek Jacobus won the long jump with a leap of 21 feet, 3 inches.

JOHN ASK RELAYS
Kingston Stadium

Team Standings

1. Iowa City West 330, 2. Linn-Mar 303, 3. Bettendorf 264.5, 4. Washington 256, 5. Prairie 233.5, 6. Jefferson 203, 7. Kennedy 148.

High Jump

1. Dondre Alexander (ICW) 6-3, 2. Jeremy Morgan (ICW) 6-1, 3. Willie Rhodes (CRK) 6-1, 4. Jordan Bonner (BETT) 6-0, 5. John Koelling (CRK) 5-6, 6. (tie) Jacob Aune (CRP) 5-4, Jake Hayles (BETT) 5-4.

Long Jump

1. Derek Jacobus (CRK) 21-3, 2. Richard Bryant (ICW) 20-11 1/3, 3. Armando Williams (ICW) 20-10, 4. Colton Sanchez (LM) 19-4, 5. Demetrius Harper (CRP) 19-4, 6. Jarred Edmons (CRP) 18-5.

Discus

1. Jacob Hayes (BETT) 155-4, 2. Tyler Burrell (CRW) 128-11, 3. Robbie Hanson (ICW) 128-0, 4. Zach Gillis (CRW) 125-10, 5. Sam Techau (CRJ) 124-6, 6. Sam Manternach (CRP) 122-6.

Shot Put

1. Jacob Hayes (BETT) 49-9, 2. Ryan Eivens (CRJ) 46-9 3/4, 3. Storhm Henry (CRW) 46-6 1/4, 4. Jack Halupnik (LM) 44-3 1/2, 5. Zach Gillis (CRW) 43-11 1/2, 6. Stephen Breitbach (ICW) 42-7 1/2.

3200 Meters

1. Matt Butler (BETT) 9:29.69, 2. Josh Evans (LM) 9:36.35, 3. Isaac Jensen (ICW) 9:46.96, 4. Jacob Aune (CRP) 9:50.13, 5. Chase Grabau (LM) 10:05.96, 6. Taylor Mueller (CRJ) 10:11.74.

4x800 Meter Relay

1. Linn-Mar (Jabez Walker, Duggan Trenary, Tanner Rathje, Matt Simon) 8:04.98, 2. IC West 8:05.97, 3. Washington (Robert Hogg, Matthew Wittman, Joe Berry, Trevor Luebe) 8:18.90, 4. Prairie (Mitch Pritts, Luke Galloway, Steven Wallace, Coen Brown) 8:47.14, 5. Jefferson (Tim MacDonald, Colton Cortez, Aaron Carter, Devin Stone) 9:00.94, 6. Bettendorf 9:21.24.

Shuttle Hurdle Relay

1. Linn-Mar (Brandon Ophoff, Mike Keiser, Ryan Wirth, Colton Sanchez) 1:00.22, 2. IC West 1:02.53, 3. Prairie (Mitchell Dellamuth, Keagan Pinter, Jarred Edmons, Haakon Wilz) 1:05.65, 4. Bettendorf 1:07.62, 5. Jefferson (Savaun Bounds, Tanner Lund, Michael Moncivais, Lucas Vanous) 1:07.95.

100 Meters

1. Tyler Younkin (BETT) 11.24, 2. Armando Williams (ICW) 11.27, 3. Will Griffin (CRW) 11.35, 4. Nate Karlan (CRJ) 11.59, 5. Jake Luerkens (LM) 11.72, 6. Tavian Smith (ICW) 11.84.

Wheelchair 100 Meter Dash

1. Jordan Houdeshell (LM) 23.15.

400 Meters

1. Nicolas Corbett (CRW) 50.78, 2. Timauntay Jones (CRJ) 51.76, 3. Gabe Rees (BETT) 52.35, 4. Tre Goode (ICW) 53.70, 5. Devon Clarke (BETT) 54.63, 6. Noah Dostal (CRW) 55.03.

Wheelchair 400 Meter Dash

1. Jordan Houdeshell (LM) 1:20.69.

4x200 Meter Relay

1. Bettendorf 1:31.26, 2. Prairie (Austin Dellamuth, Tristan Beyer, Jarred Edmons, Demetrius Harper) 1:32.47, 3. Washington (Drake Hickok, Morris Williams, Mitch Bredeson, Braedon Tovey) 1:32.62, 4. Iowa City West 1:33.11, 5. Linn-Mar (Travis Kvach, Tristan Freese, Tommy Feller, Jake Luerkens) 1:33.22, 6. Jefferson (Nate Karlan, Chance Tiedtke, Aaron Gruwell, Alex Baxter) 1:33.44.

110 Meter Hurdles

1. Brandon Ophoff (LM) 14.69, 2. Drake Hickok (CRW) 15.58, 3. Mike Keiser (LM) 15.59, 4. Lucas Brenneman (ICW) 15.89, 5. Tom Kaiser (CRK) 16.18, 6. Forest Vega (CRW) 16.39.

1600 Meters

1. Josh Evans (LM) 4:31.16, 2. Daniel Gardarsson (ICW) 4:33.67, 3. Bailey Wetherell (ICW) 4:38.37, 4. Isaiah Vlasek (CRP) 4:46.86, 5. Joe Berry (CRW) 4:49.58, 6. Matthew Wittman (CRW) 4:50.40.

200 Meters

1. Armando Williams (ICW) 22.72, 2. Will Griffin (CRW) 23.09, 3. Jake Luerkens (LM) 23.29, 4. Blake Younkin (BETT) 23.82, 5. Tre Goode (ICW) 24.06, 6. John Koelling (CRK) 24.10.

400 Meter Hurdles

1. Brandon Ophoff (LM) 55.47, 2. Forest Vega (CRW) 58.17, 3. Jabez Walker (LM) 58.64, 4. Lucas Vanous (CRJ) 59.79, 5. Haakon Wilz (CRP) 1:01.80, 6. Lucas Brenneman (ICW) 1:02.36.

Sprint Medley

1. Prairie (Austin Dellamuth, Demetrius Harper, Tristan Beyer, Jacob Aune) 3:36.59, 2. Bettendorf 3:40.01, 3. Iowa City West 3:47.03, 4. Linn-Mar (Mason Renner, Tommy Feller, Ellis McBrayer, Will Fuhrmann) 3:50.70, 5. Washington (Nicolas Corbett, Mason Taylor, Trevor Luebe, Matthew Wittman) 3:53.84, 6. Kennedy (Tom Kaiser, Donovan Kosman, John Koelling, Chris Blum) 4:02.95.

800 Meters

1. Timauntay Jones (CRJ) 1:58.51, 2. Chase Grabau (LM) 2:00.73, 3. Matt Simon (LM) 2:03.16, 4. Mitch Pritts (CRP) 2:03.98, 5. Phillip Laux (ICW) 2:04.51, 6. Taylor Mueller (CRJ) 2:07.12.

4x100 Relay

1. Iowa City West 43.10, 2. Washington (Braedon Tovey, Joseph McBride, Mitch Bredeson, Will Griffin) 43.80, 3. Bettendorf 43.85, 4. Prairie (Austin Dellamuth, Jarred Edmonds, Mitchell Dellamuth, Demetrius Harper) 44.69, 5. Linn-Mar (Travis Kvach, Tristan Freese, Tommy Feller, Jake Luerkens) 45.01, 6. Kennedy (Alex Hillyer, Tom Kaiser, Jacob Shannon,
Derek Jacobus) 45.04.

4x400 Relay

1. Washington (Drake Hickok, Noah Dostal, Robert Hogg, Nicolas Corbett) 3:27.44, 2. Linn-Mar (Ryan Wirth, Duggan Trenary, Jabez Walker, Brandon Ophoff) 3:29.03, 3. Iowa City West 3:36.17, 4. Jefferson (William Orr, Alex Baxter, Ryan Deerberg, Aaron Gruwell) 3:36.20, 5. Prairie (Mitchell Dellamuth, Jace Hanna, Alex Nelson, Tristan Beyer) 3:39.57, 6. Kennedy (John Koelling, Chad Slaymaker, Famiek Cook, Donovan Kosman) 3:48.15.

Brian White named Kennedy boys track coach

Some of the top male athletes at Cedar Rapids Kennedy are going to get a tap on the shoulder from Brian White this year while they're walking the hallways at school.

Then they might get tapped again, because White will be trying his best to convince all the top athletes at Kennedy to join the boys track and field team.

White, 40, was named the new track coach at Kennedy on Thursday, succeeding Dennis Roloff.

White is the defensive coordinator for the Kennedy football program and believes strongly in getting all the top athletes at Kennedy - regardless of sport - out for track.

"The way I look at it, track is a great sport, but track will help student-athletes in any sport," he said.

Roloff served as Kennedy's boys track coach from 1997 through this year. He retired after the season as track coach, but will lead the girls basketball program again next season.

Roloff wanted all the top athletes to participate in track as well. He was disappointed this year when Christian French, a star football player who has signed with Oregon, did not return to the track team for his final season.

White coached French on the Kennedy football team and said he would have tried his best to convince French to run track.

"To be honest with you, I would have recruited him really hard," White said. "I wish he would have gone out. He could have done some amazing things on the track."

White said there are many others.

"I've got my eye on kids in our hallways who I know haven't been out for track," he said. "I'm going to work real hard on them to get them out."

White said he plans to speak with Darius Fuller, a point guard on the Kennedy basketball team, and try to get him on the track squad for next spring.

"He's just faster than lightning, but unfortunately he hasn't been running track. I'm going to try hard to get Darius out," White said.

White said he also plans to pursue Josiah Coleman, who plays football and basketball at Kennedy but not track. White thinks track is especially good for college-bound athletes, regardless of sport.

"I don't care if you're D-I, D-II or D-III in college, you have to come in ready to go," he said. "And track will certainly get them there and help our school out and help our program out."

White said he also plans to stress weight training with members of the track squad.

White was an assistant track coach at Cedar Rapids Washington from 1995 to 2000. He also was an assistant football coach at Washington for 10 years before switching to Kennedy in 2006.

White has not been an assistant track coach at Kennedy, but said he wanted to return to the sport and was interested in becoming a head coach.

White graduated from Linn-Mar High School in 1989 and was a multi-sport athlete for the Lions. He played football at Coe College, graduating in 1993.

White worked for the Iowa Department of Corrections at one point, working with young convicted felons (18 to 21) who did not have an education. He also worked in the business sector for about 18 months.

White is a social studies teacher at Kennedy. He and his wife, Debbie, have three sons ages 11, 8 and 5.

Roloff retiring as Kennedy boys track coach

Dennis Roloff has decided to retire as the Cedar Rapids Kennedy boys track coach after this season. He'll finish his 15th and final year as Kennedy's head coach at the state meet in Des Moines this week.

Roloff planned to make the announcement at the team's annual banquet Tuesday night.

Roloff, 57, decided in January to take early retirement as a teacher from Cedar Rapids Community Schools. He will continue as Kennedy's girls basketball coach next season, but will step down as boys track coach following the state meet.

Roloff said basketball and track are two different sports, one indoors and one outdoors, with different responsibilities. He thinks it would be difficult to coach a track team with 80 to 100 members without being in the school on a regular basis.

Roloff was a state 440-yard champion at Cedar Rapids Jefferson in 1971 and was a champion quarter-miler at the University of Northern Iowa. He's been involved with the sport since he was a seventh grader, either as a runner or coach.

"Track has been my true love my whole life," he said.

Roloff has coached athletes who have set Iowa all-time bests, won titles at the Drake Relays and won state championships, but he said he simply relishes the sheer joy of the sport.

"I think any time there's a close race - and I don't care what level it is - it's pretty exciting to see the competition," he said.

For example, he pointed to the girls 4x400 relay at the Class 4A district meet in Iowa City last week. He was a spectator for that race, but got emotionally involved.

"It came down to three teams fighting and Kennedy was in third place, and our anchor girl passed them both on the homestretch to win it. That was exciting," he said. "We were standing up and cheering. It was just a great race."

The next race was the boys 4x400, with Anthony Crawley running the anchor for Kennedy.

"And then Anthony Crawley does the same thing," Roloff said. "He's in third place coming around the corner and he wins it on the homestretch. Back-to-back victories that way. It was so exciting to do that."

Roloff will turn 58 on Thursday, which coincidentally will be the first day of the state track meet. The Cougars have qualified in several events, so Roloff will spend his birthday in Des Moines, coaching his athletes and enjoying the event.

His last day as an industrial tech teacher at Kennedy will be on June 3, but he plans to stay busy this summer with the girls basketball program.

"Camps and leagues and all that in basketball start right away, so I won't miss a beat," he said. "I probably won't miss it (teaching) until we go back in August and they all have to be at that in-service day and I'll be home. Then I'll know, well, hey, I'm done."

Roloff thanked all the "great coaches, great mentors and great athletes" he's had in track through the years.

Crawley, Losch, Mere qualify for state

Linn-Mar senior Kyle Dunn will be allowed to compete in the Class 4A state track meet next week despite being disqualified from an event at Thursday's district meet in Dubuque.

Dunn was disqualified Thursday for making an inappropriate remark after winning his heat of the 800-meter run. Dunn is not eligible to compete in the 800 at state due to the disqualification, but he can compete in all his other races.

Scott Mahmens, the activities director at Linn-Mar, said the disqualification does not affect Dunn's status for the rest of the meet, according to IHSAA rules.

Dunn, a three-time state champion during his prep career, has qualified for state in the 400 hurdles, 110 hurdles and 400-meter dash. He also can run on one of Linn-Mar's relay races.

The IHSAA released all the qualifiers for the state meet on its web site Friday night at www.iahsaa.org.

Will Griffin of Cedar Rapids Washington will be busy at the state meet in the 100, 200, 4x100 relay and 4x200 relay as the Warriors gun for their third state title in a row.

Cedar Rapids Prairie will feature the Stocker twins, Matt and Kyle, in the 800, 1600 and relays. Sam Joens, the Drake Relays champ, will be among the favorites in the discus for Prairie.

Here are all the state qualifiers, listed by school:

WASHINGTON (4A)
Alex Carr (100), Will Griffin (100, 200), Kristopher Gardner (200), Nicolas Corbett (400), Robert Hogg (800, 1600, long jump), Etienne Nzoyisaba (1600, 3200), Drake Hickok (400 hurdles), Storhm Henry (shot put), 4x100, 4x200, distance medley, shuttle hurdle relay.

LINN-MAR (4A)
Kyle Dunn (400, 110 hurdles, 400 hurdles), Chase Grabau (800), Josh Evans (1600, 3200), Brandon Ophoff (110 hurdles), Nick Lucas (400 hurdles), Mac Mahmens (discus), Jack Halupnick (shot put), 4x100, 4x800, distance medley, shuttle hurdle relay.

PRAIRIE (4A)
Demetrius Harper (400), Sam Joens (discus), Kyle Stocker (800, 1600), Matt Stocker (800, 1600), Mitch Pritts (3200), Tom Frieden (400 hurdles), 4x400, 4x800, distance medley.

XAVIER (4A)
Eric Hovda (100, 200), Carter Valentine (110 hurdles), Alec Clasen (high jump), Craig Murtha (discus), Chase Kleopfer (shot put), 4x100, 4x200, 4x400.

KENNEDY (4A)
Anthony Crawley (400), Jake Losch (400 hurdles), Caleb Mere (long jump), 4x400, distance medley.

JEFFERSON (4A)
Nate Karlan (100, 200), Timauntay Jones (800), 4x800.

MARION (3A)
Brennen Kelly (800), Taylor Rogers (110 hurdles), Isaac Frazier (high jump), 4x400, 4x800, distance medley, shuttle hurdle relay.