by Marianne Gasaway
Eleven members of the Clear Lake boys track and field team represented their school and community at the State Championships held in Des Moines.
Senior Zeke Nelson closed out his senior year contributing to four events and placing seventh in the 100 meter hurdles.
“Our relays performed well at the State Championships. The highlights were the Shuttle Hurdle Relay and Zeke in the 110 hurdles making it to the finals. Unfortunately, in the Shuttle Hurdle final we were disqualified for leaving early on an exchange,” said Coach Tyler Havens. “Marcus Skidmore and Jack Crane also both ran well in their last race as a Lion.”
Nelson set a personal record while placing seventh in the 110 hurdles. He was eighth in the Class 3A preliminaries on Thursday and trimmed that to 14.89 to place seventh in the finals.
The Shuttle Hurdle Relay team of Gage Larson, Derek Erpelding, Cooper Cooke and Nelson reached the finals by placing sixth in the preliminaries in 1:01.54.
Nelson was also part of the 4×100 and 4×200 relays.
Nelson, Alex Kerr, Sam Dodge and Titan Schmitt recorded a time of 43.85 in the 4×100, which placed them 14th overall. In the 4×200, the same group ran a 1:31.81 and was 15th overall.
The Distance Medley with Tate Garman, Blake Enke, Marcus Skidmore and Jack Crane was 19th overall in a time of 3:41.95.
Titan Schmitt also participated in the 200 meter dash, where he posted a personal record of 23.31 and was 22nd overall.
Dylan Litzel cleared the high jump bar at 5’11” to finish 17th in a talented pool.
“We are excited about the young and deep group of sprinters we have returning the next couple years,” added Coach Havens. “It was really fun to get to see them compete at the State Championships.”
