STATE TRACK: Trojans sample silver in 1A 4x800
By Troy Banning, DFJ Sports Editor
POSTED: May 16, 2008
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Looking to contend for the Class 1A team title during the three-day spectacle on the blue oval, the Trojans' first foray onto the track resulted in a second-place finish in the 4x800-meter relay on a day filled with sunny skies and fast times across the board.
The quartet of David Greenfield, Ryan Woiwood, Dirk Timm and Sean Inks notched a school record time of 8 minutes 11.79 seconds in a race that was still up in the air until a dramatic dash down the homestretch by Ryan Krogmann, who ran the anchor for the gold-medal winning Northeast Goose Lake 4x800 team.
No doubt, the Trojans wanted a state title. But second-place isn't anything to hang your head about.
"We're OK with second-place, but we came in with high expectations and we wanted to win it," Timm, who turned in a 1:59.80 split on the third leg that vaulted the Trojans to the front of the field, said just moments following the race. "But we performed really well, we just didn't get the win."
Northeast Hamilton head coach Mark Rusch agreed.
"You can't be disappointed in a top two finish," Rusch said. "We ran the best we could possibly run, so that's fantastic."
Timm passed five runners during his two laps on the track and ran side-by-side with Northeast Goose Lake's Baron Loots to the exchange. That set the stage for a head-to-head battle between Krogmann and Inks, two of the top 800 runners in 1A.
Krogmann ran a 1:55 split to just nudge out Inks, who sprinted to a 1:57 split.
Northeast Goose Lake's winning time was 8:09.99.
"That kid (Krogmann) just ran a great leg," Timm said.
Still, the eight team points secured with the runner-up finish put the Trojans on the radar. They trail 1A leader Northeast Goose Lake by just four points going into Day 2 on Friday.
Northeast Hamilton senior Chad Fonken opened his state meet with a victory in his preliminary heat of the 200. He raced through the finish line in 22.72 seconds, which was the third-fastest qualifying time for Saturday's finals.
"Chad ran really well," Rusch said. "He was strong and confident out there and he's focused on what he needs to do this weekend."
Inks returned to the track for the 400 less than two hours after his 4x800 stint, and the fierce competition earlier took its toll. The Trojan senior finished in 11th-place overall with a time of 52.03 seconds.
"It was obvious that (the 4x800) gassed him quite a bit," Rusch said of Inks. "That's a tough turnaround and we knew it would be. But he went out and ran his very best, and that's all you can ask for."
Northeast Hamilton will have several more chances to make a dent on the team leaderboard on Friday. The 1,600 medley and 4x200 relays will be in action, as will senior Jordan Anderson in the discus. The 4x400 will also run in a preliminary heat, as it attempts to qualify for Saturday's final.
Trojet relay just misses medal
Five seconds and one place is all that separated the Northeast Hamilton girls' track team's 4x800-meter relay from taking home a medal on Thursday at the state track meet in Des Moines.
That's the bad news, if you can call it that. The good news is that all four members of the relay — Abby Rapp, Rachael Hansen, Holly Heiden and Rachel Vaughn — will be back again next year.
The Trojets obliterated their own school record by 17 seconds, as they turned in a time of 10:04.64 to place ninth in the Class 1A field. They finished second in the first of two heats, and then nervously watched the 12 teams in the second heat try to push them out of medal contention.
"All four girls took it to a new level and ran where they didn't think they could go," an elated James Koop, Northeast Hamilton's co-head coach, said of his relay that entered the state meet ranked 17th. "Not getting a medal is only disappointing because we know how hard they've worked all year and they deserve a medal. But as coach (Brandon) Frohwein said, there are 150 teams in Class 1A and we're ninth best, so well done."
NEH fluctuated between second and sixth during the first three legs, but Vaughn, who is just a freshman, brought the hammer with a 2:22.9 anchor that vaulted the Trojets all the way up to the second spot.
Hansen will step back onto the Jim Duncan track on Friday when she will compete in the 100 hurdles.
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Burton6
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05-16-08 2:03 PM
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CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL! GREAT JOB!
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