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Washington Evening Journal
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Morris sprints to title, Patterson, Evans 3rd
Washington sophomore runs sub-50, another leaps 6-1; Mid-Prairie junior gets school record
DES MOINES — There were four times under 50 seconds in the Class 3A boys 400-meter dash.
Elijah Morris had the fastest at 49.53 to win the title for Washington.
Mitzi Evans wanted to run a time in the 56-second range in the 2A 400. Instead she ran 57.38, good enough to break her own Mid-Prairie school record and place third. Kennedy Kramer of West Lyon won in 56.25.
“I wanted to win,” Evans said. “I was even praying, dear God please let me win, but I’m happy with third.”
Evans did not mind the light rain that fell during her race. “The rain is nice to cool down in. As long as that is the worst it gets the whole weekend, it will be fine.”
Mid-Prairie’s girls are first in the team standings with 21 points.
Ethan Patterson was one of three 3A boys to clear 6 foot, 1 inch but finished third ahead of the others on less missed jumps. Ian Collins of Charles City won at 6-9.
“It was tough jumping in the water,” Patterson said. But I got my steps down and executed. I was happy with how I finished.“
That finish was worth six points and the Demons totaled 16 with the Morris win to be fourth in the team standings.
“It feels really good, coming back from Drake and having that fall and then to come here and take the gold,” Morris said.
Morris ran in the 200 earlier and finished 11th with a time of 23.1. That race helped get the nerves out and also gave him a taste of the crowd noise.
“I got really nervous (because) I was really close to a false start,” Morris said. “I took (the noise) as a learning experience.”
Morris got a good start in the 400 despite the rain coming down harder. He ran so fast that, “I didn't have too much on me.”
Running the third heat gave him an advantage of knowing the times from the first two heats.
“It was going to be tough, but I knew I could beat all the times that had been up already. I was just trying to be confident and leave it all out there.”
Morris was able to do that once he was underway. “I was a little stiff, but as soon as I hit the 100-meter mark, I just took a breath and let myself do my thing.”
Elijah Morris of Washington (far right) races to the finish line of the 400 meters at the state track meet at Drake Stadium in Des Moines Thursday May 20, 2021 and wins the title in Class 3A. (Doug Brenneman/Union)
Elijah Morris of Washington is hugged by teammate Lance Sobaski after Morris won the Class 3A 400 meters race at the state track meet at Drake Stadium in Des Moines Thursday May 20, 2021. (Doug Brenneman/Union)
Mitzi Evans of Mid-Prairie runs to a third-place finish in the 400 meters of Class 2A, breaking her own school record Thursday at the state track meet in Des Moines. (Doug Brenneman/Union)
Washington’s Ethan Patterson competes in the high jump Thursday at the state track meet in Des Moines and finished third with a leap of 6 feet, 1 inch. (Doug Brenneman/Union)
