George, Rocca vault Pioneers into 1A points lead

DES MOINES - All Steven George needed was one more chance to make amends for a dicey situation in the long jump preliminaries at the coed state track meet Friday in Des Moines.

      He took full advantage of his golden opportunity, making Maharishi School golden for one day, anyway.

      After scratching on his first two jumps in the long jump, George conservatively converted his third attempt at 20 feet, 6 3/4 inches. With three more jumps in the finals, he wasted no time in winning the Class 1A event with an effort of 22 feet, 10 3/4 inches on his first try, more than a foot longer than runner-up Lucas Mosier of Griswold.

      George's win highlighted a solid showing for the Pioneers, who scored 14 points to grab the 1A points lead after the first day. The Pioneers also received a fifth-place showing from Justin Rocca in the 400-meter dash.

      "I wanted those first two jumps because I know I had the state record in them," said George, who showed frustration following a near-miss on his second attempt. "I just wanted to put a mark on the board. My steps were off, but the crowd got behind me."

      George, the Drake Relays runner-up. entered the meet as the top qualifier in the event, and exceeded his district mark by six inches. He didn't feel pressure to live up to the top spot in 1A.

      "Stats don't mean anything," he said. "You just have to come up here and take care of business. Sometimes, the shorter distances can take second. I just do what I do in practice every day. I can't really take credit; my coaches deserve a lot of it."

      Sam Goldstein placed 18th in the long jump with an effort of 19-0 1/2.

      Rocca was solid in the 400, a race that he nearly placed in last season. This time, he had no trouble

placing, running 50.78 seconds, less than a second behind champion Nick Kuchel of Kingsley-Pierson. The Pioneers junior also qualified for the 200-meter dash finals Saturday, squeaking in with a 22.71.

      Pekin was scoreless on the day, with the top finish a 13th-place finish from Jerry Gorman in the 3,200.

Gorman ran a 10:30.26 to finish 40 seconds off the pace set by Central Elkader's Cody Dreyer.