May 16, 2008 12:16 am
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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.
The Ottumwa boys track team only competed in two events Thursday, but the Bulldogs had solid efforts in both. In the shuttle hurdle relay, Ottumwa finished 19th with a time of 1:00.33. Jordan Conley ran a personal record split of 13.91.
“The guys ran real well and fairly consistent to what we’ve been running,” Ottumwa coach Jim Nickerson said.
The Bulldogs’ Clint Utter also set a new personal best Thursday. Utter clocked a 50.48 in the 400 meter dash to take 12th.
In the girls’ state meet, Twin Cedars Lindsay Hoehns proved to be one of the top athletes in Class 1A. The versatile sophomore had three top-seven finishes on Thursday.
Hoehns took seventh in the 200 (26.67) and fourth in the long jump (16-05.25) Her best finish came in the 400 meter dash. Hoehns finished third with a time of 59.15.
Sara Dickinson turned in a great performance in the 3,000 meter run. Dickinson came in second place (10:08.47) behind West Des Moines Dowling’s incredible Katie Flood. Flood finished 22 seconds better than the rest of the field.
Maybe the best event for area athletes was the Class 3A high jump. Three area standouts finished in the top four. Chariton’s Tanna Seuferer was the best of the bunch with a leap of 5-05.00 — good enough for third. Fairfield’s Maryn Fulton and Centerville’s Katie Dekker tied for fourth with a jump of 5-03.
Davis County’s Amanda Wakelin continued her impressive freshman campaign on day one. Wakelin took fifth in the Class 3A, 400 meter dash with a time of 59.21.
Danielle Fry of Fairfield also claimed a fifth place finish, her’s coming in the discus with a toss of 121-06.
In the 4x800, Eddyville-Blakesburg ran a time of 9:40.55 for fourth place. Taylar Swartz, Arielle Brown, Whitley Schertz and Courtney Sheffler competed for the Rockets.
Fairfield’s Nicole Gevock, Megan Thompson, Margaret Slechta and Brittney Fry claimed eighth in the 4x800 in Class 3A.
The Ottumwa girls team only took the track twice on day one. Freshman Sarah Ryan started her busy weekend with a 12th place finish in the 100 meter dash.
“She had a great start out of the block,” Ottumwa coach Steve Green said. “She ran a really solid time. For her to get 12th place in Class 4A with seven girls from last year’s field returning was really outstanding for her.”
In the shuttle hurdle relay, the Bulldogs’ team of Kendra Spurgeon, Katherine Person, Kelsey Kelly-Celania and Kaitlin McElroy ran a time of 1:07.72. Green was proud of the team for their effort.
“The shuttle hurdle relay team ran a solid time.” Green said. “It’s around their season average. To do that here, it’s an outstanding time for them. We had a good day today. The girls came prepared today mentally.”
Action resumes today at 9 a.m.
Jason McGrann of the Centerville Daily Iowegian contributed to this report
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