by Marianne Gasaway
Clear Lake won three events and picked up placements in many more on their way to a victory in the North Iowa Boys Indoor Championships Friday, March 24.
“For the boys lineup, Coach Dodge and I really wanted to buy into and promote the championship format by creating the most points-productive lineup we possibly could at this point in the season,” explained Head Coach Tyler Havens. The strategy worked, as on the track the Lions placed in the top five in every relay, winning two of the five events. Individually, they scored in every track event, while double scoring in the 60 meter hurdles, 400 meter dash, 800 meter run, 3200 meter run, and 200 meter hurdles.
All of those performances added up to 120 team points, which secured a 32 point win over second place Algona.
“We had many impactful performances across all events, but there are a few notables that will earn our Lion of the Night Award,” said Havens.
In the field events, Clear Lake got points out of junior Dylan Litzel in the high jump, finishing fourth with a personal record of 6’0”. Freshman Sam Dodge finished eighth in the long jump with a mark of 19’3”.
“Dylan has been working on the high jump with Coach Megan Bedford since he was a freshman. He looks so natural going over the bar and is really fun to watch. He is currently ranked number one in the North Central Conference and tied for fifth in Class 3A,” said Havens.
Zeke Nelson anchored Clear Lake’s shuttle hurdle team to a first place finish and earned second place finishes in the 60 meter hurdles (8.53) and 400 meter dash (53.92). He ended his night with a big performance in the 200 meter hurdles (25.92) to finish first.
Clear Lake’s winning shuttle hurdle team was comprised of Derek Erpelding, Gage Larson, Cooper Cooke and Nelson.
“Zeke scored more points than anyone else at the meet on Friday and he executed his lineup flawlessly. His performance Friday is everything we expect to see from a seasoned senior,” said Havens.
The coach also gave special recognition to sophomore Owen Smith, who he said “is resetting the expectations for Clear Lake distance.” Smith anchored the 4×800 to a fourth place finish with a personal split of 2:12 and then followed that up with a podium finish and personal in the 1600 meter run. “For a lot of guys that would be a full night, but Owen finished off with another 1600 gritting out an anchor leg of the 4000 medley relay to a second place finish.”
Joining Smith in the 4×800 was Aiden Hippen, Jack Englin and Isaac Smith.
The Lions also won the 1600 meter Sprint Medley, with Titan Schmidt, Alex Kerr, Aidan Manemann and Marcus Skidmore clocking 3:45.75.
The 4×200 team of Schmitt, Tate Garmin, Dodge and Kerr was second in 1:35.73.
Other placements
(through 8th place):
60m: Schmidt, 8th, 7.38
60m hurdles: Jack Crane, 5th, 9.61
200m: Kerr, 3rd, 23.75
200m: Larson, 5th, 28.14
400m: Same Dodge, 6th, 55.98
800m: Skidmore, 3rd, 2:07.28; Manemann, 5th, 2:10.44
1600m: Owen Smith, 3rd, 4:53.79
3200m: Caleb Jones, 4th, 11:44.03; Isaac Smith, 5th, 11:57.51
4×400: Kerr, Dodge, Manemann, Skidmore, 5th, 3:44.60
Boys Team Standings
Clear Lake 120, Algona 88, Iowa Falls-Alden 79, Forest City 69, Nevada 62, St. Ansgar 49, Garner-Hayfield-Ventura 52, Osage 41, Central Springs 38, Hampton-Dumont-CAL 38, Webster City 33, Clarion-Goldfield-Dows 4
