DES MOINES — Wallace Carter’s track and field career came down to one last throw.

He nailed it.

Carter captured the Class 3A discus championship in a storybook ending. Making the last toss of the competition, the Centerville senior uncorked a 174-00 throw to win by three feet.

The title is the second in the discus for Carter. He also claimed first in his sophomore season. Last year, Carter took third.

“I was thinking that everything had to be perfect,” Carter said. “My steps had to be perfect and I had to come around with some massive torque and get it out there.

“I knew it was a good throw. It was really exciting.”

Carter was leading heading into the discus finals, making him the last participant to throw. But by the time his last turn rolled around in the last round, Carter found himself in second, two feet behind the leading toss of 169-00. With only one chance left, Carter unleashed a Herculean toss of 174-00 to win the Class 3A title.

“He was on from the minute he walked into the circle,” Centerville throwing coach Brandon Clark said. “He was focused and ready to roll. It was quite an impressive display he put on.”

Despite winning the discus title as a sophomore, Carter feels this one is more special.

“This one was exciting,” he said. ”It was crazy because it was the last throw. It came down to the last throw in my senior year. It’s the last time I’ll ever be in the circle.”

Carter was the only area athlete to bring home a title on Thursday, but there were a number of good finishes. Seymour’s Ethan Miller started his busy weekend with a fourth-place finish in the long jump. Miller’s best leap was 21-06.50.

Pekin’s Brad Mosinski also had a good day on the track. The senior took fourth in the 400 meter dash after crossing the finish line in 50.16.

The Pekin shuttle hurdle relay team sits in fourth position after the prelims. The Panthers’ Kaleb Watson, Mosinski, Brady Lamb and Kelly Graham combined to run a time of 58.28 to qualify for Saturday’s finals.

In the Class 2A 400 meter dash, a pair of Van Buren tracksters finished in the top eight. Dennis Halverson took fourth place with a time of 50.37. Teammate Brock Caves claimed seventh (51.48).

Eddyville-Blakesburg’s Zach Baker finished sixth in the 3,200 after running a 9:46.21.