Hawks’ Ehresman reels in 1A shot put medal, advances to 100 finals

DES MOINES — It was all in a day’s work for Lynnville-Sully senior Sage Ehresman. There was running involved and some throwing involved in his day at the 2016 Iowa High School State Track and Field Championships Thursday.

Ehresman qualified for the Class 1A boys’ 100-meter dash finals for the second year in a row then he had to dash up steps and over to the shot put ring. It is exactly what he did a year ago, but there was a different outcome this time.

“I was so excited when they announced my name as a finalist for the 100 then came straight over here,” Ehresman said after earning the seventh-place medal in the 1A boys’ shot put event. “A PR (personal record) and the finals of the 100, it couldn’t be any better.”

Ehresman quickly got a few warmup throws in as the second flight of throwers were ready to go when he came from the Drake Stadium track. His second preliminary throw went 49 feet, 1/2 inch, which was good enough to advance into the finals of the shot put.

“I felt good in the ring. I got the PR by a few inches, getting in the 49s. I was just happy to be there,” Ehresman said. He finished 17th in the event a year ago.

Ehresman is seeking his second 1A 100-meter dash state medal. He finished fifth last year. He qualified for Saturday’s finals with the sixth-fastest time of 11.48 seconds.

“I had a good start, but I couldn’t see anybody because I was in lane eight. The defending state champion was in my heat but too far over for me to see,” Ehresman said of his 100 preliminary race. “I just went hard down the track. There’s definitely room to get faster, but that’s what finals are for.”

Turning in a season’s best time was Lynnville-Sully’s boys in the 4x800-meter relay race. The Hawks finished fifth in their heat but 11th overall in 8 minutes, 34.16 seconds. Senior Canyon Kuhlmann led off the relay followed by sophomore Corey McCoy, freshman Tyson Vander Linden and anchored by sophomore Carson Dunsbergen.

All four agreed, “Those guys are fast,” in talking about the other teams running in their heat. They were all competing in their first state track meet.

“It was a very quick pace,” Kuhlmann said of his opening leg of the race. “I’ve never had the chance to run here, and it was awesome. I’m very impressed with how much my three teammates have gotten stronger and became better men this season. I’m so proud to have run this final race with these three.”

McCoy posted a 2:03.9 split on the second leg of the race. The three younger runners were spent following the race, but happy with the result, except not winning a state medal.

“Right now, I’m thanking God I’m here. It was real fast,” McCoy said. “I never saw myself being able to run the 800, let alone being good in them. Coach put me in, and I’m doing alright.”

McCoy qualified to run in the 1A boys’ 800-meter race at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

“I’m new to this race, and I felt like everyone was faster than I. It was a tough race,” Vander Linden said. “I couldn’t wait to get it (the baton) to him (Dunsbergen).”

“Those people are really fast,” Dunsbergen said. “I didn’t want to lose it for us so I just went all out. This feels amazing here — to run in front of thousands of people on the blue oval. There’s nothing better.”

Earlier Thursday, Lynnville-Sully’s boys competed in the 1A shuttle hurdle relay preliminaries. The Hawk team of senior Noah Engle, juniors Caden Dunsbergen and Ryan Hofer and freshman Gage Vander Leest ran 1:02.42 and finished 17th.

Hofer competes in the 1A boys’ 110-meter high hurdles preliminaries at 3:20 p.m. Friday. Vander Linden is in the 1A boys 400 hurdles final at 5 p.m. Ehresman and Engle are in the 1A boys discus field, throwing at 4:30 p.m.

Senior Marissa Vos placed 19th in the 1A girls 3,000-meter run. Vos ran the race in 12:09.34.

On Friday, Lynnville-Sully’s girls are in the 1A 4x200 relay final at 4:30 p.m. with the foursome senior Kasiah Ehresman, sophomores Camryn Russell and Jataya Meyer and junior Brenna Lanser. At 5:20 p.m., sophomore Mariah Vos runs in the girls 400 hurdles final.

The Hawk girls’ 4x100-meter relay team of Kasiah Ehresman, Russell, junior Makenzy Rozendaal and Lanser compete in the 1A preliminaries. The Hawk boys’ 4x100 foursome of Sage Ehresman, sophomore Zylstra, Engle and freshman Nate Stock run in their 1A preliminaries.

“I think we have a good chance in the 4x100,” Sage Ehresman said.

If the Lynnville-Sully 4x100 relays qualify for finals, those teams run at 3:05 p.m. for the girls and 3:20 p.m. for the boys on Saturday.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535
or jsheets@newtondailynews.com