Saints third heading into second day of state track

DES MOINES — Scoring points in four different events had the Saints firmly in third-place and trophy contention following the opening day of the Class 1A boys state track and field meet.

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Scoring points in events, including fourth for Riley Witt in the 3,200, fifth by Braden Powers in the 400, sixth by the 4×800 relay that included Derek Peterson, Ryan Cole, Matthew Hall and Witt, and Alex Hansen’s seventh-place shot put performance, resulted in 14 team points.

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That had coach Drew Clevenger’s Saints only behind Madrid (27) and Earlham (18).

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Powers also qualified for the 200-meter final, guaranteeing at least one more team point. He qualified sixth despite running the first heat out of lane three.

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“Just going to be able to make the finals in the 200,” Powers said. “I was seeded seventh, I mean nervous, obviously, because it’s a big stage. Definitely glad to go and compete on Saturday for a medal.

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“(In the 100) I came in (seeded (15th) and finished 10th, better than I came. That heat was flying with (Grundy Center’s Logan) Knaack and then 400, came in seeded third…if you would have told me last season that God would have blessed me with this, I never would have believed it.”

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The 4×800 start had a recall with three runners jumping the gun, Peterson, the lead-off leg, said that didn’t adversely affect him at all.

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“No, if anything I got the initial race nerves out of the way,” Peterson said. “It was just like, go, come back. I just had a good start and was where I wanted to be after the first lap.

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“I’m not 100 percent sure, but I think we were seeded seventh overall, so I think we got sixth, that’s good, we moved up. We didn’t get our goal, but we still ran well and competed.”