Mississippi Athletic Conference boys track and field outlooks
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By Jon Gremmels | Friday, May 09, 2008 |
Mississippi Athletic Conference boys track
Outlook
Pleasant Valley won the conference crown a year ago and again appears to be the favorite in the league. The Spartans might even have what it takes to bring a state championship back to the Quad-Cities.
“Pleasant Valley should dominate,” Davenport West coach Dave Broadie said when assessing the conference race.
The Spartans’ strength comes from members of the state championship cross country squad, but it goes well beyond that. They are strong in almost every area.
After Pleasant Valley, the Mississippi Athletic Conference appears wide-open. Runner-up Clinton and third-place Burlington each has one of the premier performers in the state to lead their charges and will try to battle the Spartans for the title.
Athletes to watch
Devin Allbaugh, Pleasant Valley: State cross country champion will try to get back to the top of track awards stand. The 2006 state champion in the 3,200 meters finished fourth in that event last year at state and fifth in the 1,600. He also is coming off a great MAC meet in which he won the 3,200 in 9 minutes, 30.67 seconds and the 1,600 in 4:29.45, and took third in the 800.
Jerred Herring, Burlington: Earned title as fastest man in the state last year after doubling as both 100- and 200-meter dash champion in the state and in the conference. Ran the 100 in 11.15 seconds at state and won the 200 in 22.21. Won the MAC 100 in 10.62. Also was a member of state runner-up 400 relay unit and on third-place 800 relay foursome. He capped the indoor season with a meet-record performance in the 60 meters (6.93 seconds) and also won the 200 at the A.D. Dickinson Relays in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Ethan Holmes, Clinton: He returns for his junior season after winning both hurdle events in the conference, taking second in the state in the 400 low hurdles and running the ninth-fastest preliminary time in the state in the 110s.
Blake Irwin, Pleasant Valley: Capped a great spring last year with a state title in the 800 (1:52.96) and a second-place finish by .01 in the 1,600. In addition, he anchored the state championship distance medley relay unit. He also was the MAC champion in the 400 (49.87). He is coming off a first-place finish in the 1,600 at the state indoor meet.
Ethan Tuftee, Davenport Assumption: He’s back in action after missing most of his senior football season because of a knee injury. The Iowa State football recruit won the MAC title in the shot put (55-feet-8.5) and then added another half-inch to that to take second at the Class 2A state meet. He recently won the A.D. Dickinson Relays, which serve as the state indoor title, with a heave of 53-3.75).
Storylines
ânº Bettendorf has a pair of returning individual state qualifiers in seniors Jourdan Coley (long jump) and Adam Coleman (discus), although Coleman has been bothered by a shoulder injury and might not be able to compete. Even if Coleman can’t go, the Bulldogs should be good in the throws with senior Chris Piersall, seventh in the MAC in the discus; sophomore Jeremy Jacobsen, the MAC sophomore champion in the discus; and junior Kyle Lichtenberg, the MAC sophomore conference runner-up in the shot put and discus. Bettendorf also has all four members of its state-qualifying 800 relay unit: seniors Marty Dittmer and Danny Tharp, junior Pat Brown and sophomore DJ Haynes. Help could come from the conference champion sophomore squad that includes Joe Morrissey, the MAC sophomore runner-up in the 100 and third-place finisher in the high jump, and Nick Young, the sophomore champion in the 1,600 and runner-up in the 800. Young placed 20th last fall at the state cross country meet, where teammate Neal Anderson was 23rd.
ânº In Herring, Burlington has one of the premier performers in the conference, as well as the state. But the Grayhounds also have several of Herring’s fellow seniors back, which creates some optimism for the team that placed third in the conference a year ago. Isaiah Stout was fourth in the MAC in the 200 and joined Herring on the 400 and 800 relay units that placed second and third at state, Josh Caffrey placed seventh in the MAC in the 100 hurdles and Nick Kohlhof should contribute, too. The younger Grayhounds include sophomore J.T. McCarthy, sixth in the MAC varsity 3,200 last spring.
ânº Clinton must replace some key performers to maintain its spot in the top two in the MAC, but the River Kings have a fair amount of talent back, too. It begins with Holmes, a double winner in the conference hurdle events last year. Senior Scott DeAngelis was the conference runner-up in the 800 and placed sixth in the MAC and was a state qualifier in the 400. He and Holmes return from a 1,600-meter relay unit that placed fourth in the state.
ânº Davenport Assumption has one of the top throwers in the MAC in Tuftee, who placed fifth in the discus in addition to winning the shot put. Senior Mike Furlong took sixth in the MAC in the long jump and was part of two all-underclassmen relays (with Jacob O’Rourke, Tom Pettis and Willie Argo) that placed seventh in the state in the 400 and ninth in the 800.
ânº Davenport North is coming off its best finish in school history (seventh in the state) but must overcome some key graduation losses. Still, the Wildcats are optimistic about their chances. Seniors Emilio Santoro and Darren Peer, and junior Blake White were members of the 10th-place 800 relay unit at state, Peer and White were on the ninth-place 400 relay foursome and White was part of a group that took second in the distance medley relay. The Wildcats also have junior Demetrius Johnson, last year’s sophomore MAC champion in the 200 and regain the services of 2006 sophomore 400 champion Kimani Humphries, a junior who did not run last year because of a torn ACL. “We’re young but tough in a lot of areas,” coach George Guy said. “Our sprint area is returning everyone from last year.”
ânº Davenport West is coming off a sixth-place conference finisher and will rely on the development of its athletes. “We are a young team,” coach Dave Broadie said. “We want to keep improving from meet to meet.” Senior Mitch Heady is the top returner for the Falcons. He was the MAC champion in the discus (147-6) last year. Senior Long Tran placed fourth in the MAC in the high jump. West also has junior Matt Leal, the MAC sophomore champion in the 400 meters last year and the runner-up in the 200.
ânº Davenport Central is looking for better things with 12 letterwinners back from last year’s team that placed 10th in the conference meet. “With a nice mix of a few veterans and some of the newcomers, I think we should be competitive,” coach Mike Tandy said. The strength might be in the throws. Senior Shavez Lomas placed 13th in the MAC in the discus last spring, and junior Prentiss Hood was the MAC sophomore champion in the shot put. The Blue Devils also have sophomore Alex Trujillo, last year’s MAC sophomore champion in the 3,200.
ânº Muscatine suffered some key graduation losses from its fourth-place MAC team. The Muskies still have a top-notch talent returning in Alex Bailey, who placed third in the 110 hurdles and was on the state runner-up foursome in the shuttle hurdle relay.
ânº North Scott is coming off a ninth-place finish at last year’s conference meet, and senior Matt Petz is the top returning Lancer. He placed ninth in the MAC in the high jump last year. The Lancers also have a promising junior in Connor Dahlstrom, the MAC sophomore champion in the 400 hurdles and runner-up in the long jump
ânº Pleasant Valley and coach Erik Belby would like nothing better than to follow up their Class 4A cross country state title last fall with a 4A track and field title this spring. There is plenty of talent that should give the Spartans a good shot at doing it, too.
Seniors Allbaugh and Irwin lead the squad. Both are returning state champions in individual events. In addition, Irwin was joined by fellow seniors Drew Shradel, Bruce Clark and Mike Hemming on a state championship distance medley relay team that finish almost three seconds ahead of second-place Davenport North. The distance events also should get a lift from senior Charlie Paul, who placed fifth at the state cross country meet, and Austin O’Brien, ninth in cross country.
Sophomore Andrew Swanson placed fifth in the MAC last year in the 800, and Hemming was third in the MAC in the 200 and 400. Shradel should provide many points in the hurdle events after finishing second in the MAC in the 110s last year and taking fourth in the 400 lows.
In other relays, Hemming, Clark and sophomore Tim Martinez joined Irwin in winning the MAC 1,600 relay; Van Dyke and Irwin were on the conference-winning 1,600 medley relay unit; and Swanson, O’Brien and Irwin were on the winning 3,200 relay squad.
Heading the field events are senior state qualifiers Danny Van Dyke, fourth in the MAC in the long jump; Erik Moser, sixth in the MAC in the shot put; and Ben Elmer in the discus. In addition, Martinez placed second in the MAC in the long jump.
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