DES MOINES, Iowa – Pella's Canaan Dunham and West Des Moines Valley's Morgan Karr showed off their stamina and speed to share the spotlight in the high school division of the Jim Duncan Invitational on the Blue Oval at Drake Stadium on Saturday.
Dunham, an ace at the distance races, swept to comfortable victories in the boys 1600 and 3200. He won the 3200 in 9:07.05 in the morning – more than 17 seconds ahead of runner-up Jack Crossland of Johnston. Then he returned to the track in the afternoon and cruised to a win in the 1600 in 4:11.44, putting him under the Blue Oval Standard of 4:15.00. Indianola's Reed Robbins was second in that race in 4:17.75 – his best time so far this year.
Karr, the state leader in the girls 100 hurdles, won that event in 14.23 and also helped Valley win two relays. She led off on the shuttle hurdle team, which won in 1:02.14, and anchored the winning 4x100 relay unit, which hit the finish in 48.41.
Norwalk's Kaiden Kunze soared to the season lead in the long jump, going 24-5 for the No. 4 mark on the state's all-time list. He also anchored the Warriors' 4x100 relay team to a second-place finish behind Southeast Polk in a close race. Southeast Polk won in 42.82. Norwalk was clocked in 42.93.
Johnston became the first unit to reach the Blue Oval Standard in the girls 4x800 relay, winning in 9:26.03 – well below the 9:31.00 standard. It was a sweep for the Dragons in that race as the Johnston boys won in 7:58.03, just missing the 7:58.00 Blue Oval Standard.
Waukee Northwest looks to have a promising distance runner in sophomore Emmy Stubbendeck, who outran Pella's Marissa Ferebee to win the girls 3000. Stubbendeck finished in 10:01.77, an improvement of 10 seconds over her previous best. Ferebee, winner of the last two Class 3A state championships in the event, ran 10:06.02.
Pella Christian, which won four Class 2A relays at last year's state track meet, won the girls sprint medley relay in 1:46.95, beating the likes of Johnston, Waukee, Ankeny Centennial, Ames, Indianola and West Des Moines Valley. The Eagles won that race without speedster Rachel Kacmarynski, who won the 100 in 12.56.
Iowa's best preps will be back on display on the Blue Oval in two weeks for the 116th running of the Drake Relays from April 23-25.
