Friday state track: Spartan boys scoop two medals, set up big Saturday

Brayden Davie celebrates after finishing the anchor leg of the 4×400 relay in Friday’s prelims.
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Grundy Center’s boys didn’t quite get all of what they were looking for at the state track and field meet on Friday, but Saturday could be an epic finish for the Spartans.

They scored team points with a third-place finish in the 4×200 relay and an eighth-place run in the distance medley relay on Friday, and made a splash in the 4×400 prelims with the top qualifying time for Saturday’s finals.

Judd Jirovsky, Brody Zinkula, Brayden Wallis and Brayden Davie booked their spot in the finals in 3:19.79, lowering their current school record and finishing a little over a second faster than the next best prelim time from Okoboji in second.

Judd Jirovsky, Brody Zinkula, Brayden Wallis and Brayden Davie pose for a photo after qualifying with the top prelim time in the 4×400 on Friday.

Saturday’s 4×400 finals are scheduled for 4:26 p.m. at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

“If you’re wanting to see a good race, watch that 4 by 4 tomorrow because you’re going to get one,” Zinkula said. “I’m pumped, it’s going to be fast.”

The Spartans had the fastest time out of the first heat, winning the heat by almost four full seconds, and it held up through the next two heats.

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“Our expectations are really high,” Davie said. “All year we wanted to win this thing, we came out of Drake [Relays] this year for the first time, and we saw Okoboji run a good time there so it was all about figuring out how to get up there with them, and now that we’re at the top, we know we’re going to have to keep running faster. But with this group right here, I think anything’s possible.”

Davie was the linchpin of the whole operation on Friday, delivering a strong 49.1 split in the final 400 to hammer home a comfortable victory in the opening heat.

Brayden Wallis makes the handoff to Brayden Davie in the 4×400 prelims.

“Once you get it to Davie, there’s not many people, if any, that can hang with him at the end, so you’ve just gotta let him do his thing,” Wallis said.

Jirovsky thought it was a good bounce back from the finish in the 4×200 that wasn’t quite what that quartet wanted to get out of that particular event.

“It’s nice having three guys as fast as I’ve got on this team,” Jirovsky said. “I just have to run my race, play my role as the leadoff and get us off to a good start and let the guys take care of it from there.”

In the 4×200, Devin Hinders, Grant Newton, Zinkula and Jirovsky ran 1:28.05 to take bronze in the 4×200.

That wasn’t quite what this quartet was aiming for, entering the race with the top seed time in districts with a 1:28.80.

Grundy Center’s 4×200 team of Devin Hinders, Grant Newton, Judd Jirovsky and Brody Zinkula stand on the podium after finishing third in 2A on Friday.

“We wanted first, we wanted that [state champion] hat,” Newton said. “But, I mean, we’ll take it.”

Spirit Lake claimed gold in 1:27.80 and Denver was 2nd in 1:27.87.

“I know we came up short for what we were looking for,” Hinders said, “but I’m just super grateful to be out here with these guys and be on the podium with them.”

The distance medley relay quartet of Newton, Zinkula, Wallis and Emerson Vokes ran 3:35.65 to grab the eighth-place medal.

The foursome was a perfect balance of the current leadership group in seniors like Zinkula and Wallis, as well as the next ones up like Newton and Vokes, both juniors.

“Grant’s got a big year coming next year with all the seniors that are leaving this sprinter group,” Zinkula said. “He’s going to have a big part to become a leader and he’s shown huge improvement this year. And the guys coming up just gotta keep putting in the work if you want to be great.”

Brody Zinkula takes the handoff from Grant Newton in the distance medley relay on Friday morning.

Wallis, who shared a bond with Vokes in the junior’s journey to a state cross country title and a 3,200-meter title won on Thursday, has seen firsthand the year-over-year improvement of the distance group.

“My guy Emerson has a big part to do with that,” Wallis said, patting Vokes on the back. “A lot of his work goes unseen too, and him and Jayce [Fryslie] are really our only true distance guys, so it can be a lot of lonely hours out there. I don’t know what we’d do without this kid, especially with the young ones during cross country, just a really personable guy. Probably the last time I’ll ever run with him, no more midnight runs together. … It’s a great group overall, and there’s no one I’d rather do it with.”

Tiernan Vokes clears a hurdle during the 400 hurdles finals.

Elsewhere on the Blue Oval

  • Tiernan Vokes and Pete Lebo were 17th and 19th in 15.79 and 15.88, respectively, in the 110-meter hurdle prelims. Vokes added an 18th-place finish in the 400 hurdles in 57.25. “I think there’s a lot more to look forward to for next year,” said Lebo, a junior. Lebo and Vokes will also compete in Saturday’s shuttle hurdle finals.
  • Ryker Thoren, Newton, Hinders and Lebo finished 15th in the 2A 4×100 prelims in 43.78, improving on their school record time. “Yeah, we didn’t get it done [qualifying for the finals],” Thoren said, “but it’s just great to be out here with my guys and hitting another PR.” Hinders added: “I can’t wait for the new opportunities to come next year.” The 4×100 quartet broke the record of 44.20 set in 1981 by Brad Burnell, Scott Graves, Dave Hoffman and Brent Katzer less than two weeks ago.

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