Kyle Dunn anchors Linn-Mar to victory in the shuttle hurdle relay Friday a Class 4A district track meet Friday at Iowa City West. Dunn also won 110-meter highs and the 400-meter lows. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette)

IOWA CITY — Bad weather couldn’t stop Kyle Dunn last week.

And a full day’s work couldn’t slow him last night.

Dunn continued to chip away at his 400-meter hurdles time, motoring through a 51.51-second lap at a Class 4A state-qualifying track and field meet last night at Trojan Field.

That ranks No. 4 all-time in Iowa. And he did it in his fourth race of the evening.

The junior credited a teammate.

“My buddy (Nick) Lucas goes really hard for the first 200, and that pushes me a lot,” said Dunn, who had run 51.64 May 7 in the MVC Valley Division meet.

Dunn’s performance — he produced three wins and a second-place — propelled Linn-Mar to the boys’ team title.

The Lions accumulated 140 points. Burlington was second with 137, followed by Iowa City High (127).

The top four boys’ finishers in each event advance to the state meet next Thursday through Saturday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

Linn-Mar will have 16 state entrants, including four by Dunn, who won the 110-meter hurdles, anchored the shuttle hurdle relay to victory and finished second to teammate Aaron Razo in the 400.

“Top four in any event felt like a win today,” Dunn said.

Iowa City West's Jessica Gehrke motors to the 100-meter dash title. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette)

Linn-Mar also got wins from Mark Jennings in the shot put and its 3,200-meter relay team.

City High edged Iowa City West, 193-188, for the girls’ crown.

“Winning wasn’t the ultimate goal,” said sprinter Ashley Wilkinson. “Our ultimate goal was to go out there and compete and get events through to state.

“Winning is just a cherry on top.”

For the girls, the top two in each event were automatic qualifiers; the 12 next best efforts statewide also qualify in each event.

City High is guaranteed 15 state entrants (winning eight events), West 12 (five wins). Once the cutoffs are announced, the total for both teams should rise substantially.

Wilkinson and West’s Jessica Gehrke traded victories in the sprints.

Gehrke won the 100, Wilkinson the 200.

“I try to break the 200 into two portions — the curve and the straightaway,” Wilkinson said. “I go as hard as I can through the curve, then once I get to the straightaway, I give it all I’ve got.”

Prairie’s Matt Stocker captured the boys’ 1,600 and 800.

Jefferson’s girls struck gold in the 800-meter and sprint medley relays.

At Iowa City West

(The top 2 in each event automatically advance to the state meet, plus the next 12 best times/distances statewide, next week at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.)

Teams — 1. Iowa City High 193, 2. Iowa City West 188, 3. Burlington 89, 4. Linn-Mar 83, 5. C.R. Prairie 59, 6. C.R. Jefferson 58, 7. Davenport West 37, 8. Muscatine 26.

Shot put — 1. Micaela Haight (ICW), 45-0; 2. Courtney Fritz (ICW), 41-7 1/2; 3. Alicia Steffany (Burl), 40-6 3/4.

Discus — 1. Courtney Fritz (ICW), 139-9; 2. Amanda Piche (LM), 139-4; 3. Micaela Haight (ICW), 132-9.

High jump — 1. Khanishah Williams (Burl), 5-6; 2. Stephanie Brooks (ICH), 5-1; 3. Virginia Johnson (ICH), 5-1.

Long jump — 1. Jessica Gehrke (ICW), 17-2 3/4; 2. Chelsea Burkle (LM), 16-4 3/4; 3. Chelsea Thayer (LM), 16-4.

3,000 — 1. Meg Richardson (ICH), 10:36.47; 2. Rebecca Rethwisch (ICH), 10:40.23; 3. Carolyn Newhouse (LM), 10:48.24.

3,200 relay — 1. Iowa City High (Stephenson, Langenfeld, Danielson, Yagla), 9:39.89; 2. Iowa City West, 9:51.94; 3. C.R. Jefferson, 9:59.76.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Burlington (Perry, Ita, Peterson, Williams), 1:07.53; 2. Iowa City High, 1:08.03; 3. Iowa City West, 1:08.06.

100 — 1. Jessica Gehrke (ICW), 12.58; 2. Ashley Wilkinson (ICH), 12.76; 3. McKennan Cronbaugh (ICW), 13.02.

Distance medley relay — 1. Iowa City High (Coleman, Yagla, Sullivan, Fagan), 4:15.56; 2. Iowa City West, 4:17.96; 3. C.R. Jefferson, 4:20.92.

400 — 1. Amanda Milne (DW), 59.74; 2. Samantha Kistler (Musc), 1:00.15; 3. Katie Carver (CRP), 1:01.14.

800 relay — 1. C.R. Jefferson (Rattliffe, Broghammer, Rizor, Sindelar), 1:44.81; 2. Iowa City West, 1:45.00; 3. Linn-Mar, 1:45.86.

100 hurdles — 1. Khanishah Williams (Burl), 15.42; 2. Natalie Mason (ICW), 15.90; 3. Tanner Werthmann (DW), 16.26.

800 — 1. Jessica Yagla (ICH), 2:20.43; 2. Jill Stephenson (ICH), 2:21.07; 3. Ally Disterhoft (ICW), 2:23.45.

200 — 1. Ashley Wilkinson (ICH), 25.65; 2. Jessica Gehrke (ICW), 25.74; 3. McKennan Cronbaugh (ICW), 26.35.

400 hurdles — 1. Emily Sotelo (ICH), 1:07.00; 2. Casey Sublett (LM), 1:07.49; 3. Natalie Mason (ICW), 1:08.31.

Sprint medley relay — 1. C.R. Jefferson (Young, Rizor, Rattliffe, Sindelar), 1:51.16; 2. Iowa City West, 1:51.73; 3. Linn-Mar, 1:51.99.

1,500 — 1. Rebecca Rethwisch (ICH), 4:51.72; 2. Emily Fagan (ICH), 4:54.19; 3. Pombie Silverman (ICW), 5:00.74.

400 relay — 1. Iowa City West (Cronbaugh, Hoagland, Williams, Gehrke), 48.91; 2. Iowa City High, 50.06; 3. C.R. Jefferson, 50.61.

1,600 relay – 1. Iowa City High (Yagla, Hynes, Danielson, Sotelo), 4:07.07; 2. C.R. Jefferson, 4:07.43; 3. Iowa City West, 4:08.09.

At Iowa City West

The top 4 in each event advance to the state meet, next week at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

Teams — 1. Linn-Mar 140, 2. Burlington 137, 3. Iowa City High 127, 4. Iowa City West 91, 5. C.R. Prairie 78, 6. Muscatine 51, 7. C.R. Jefferson 44, 8. Davenport West 30.

Shot put — 1. Mark Jennings (LM), 56-3 3/4; 2. Nick Ganzley (Musc), 52-7 1/2; 3. Jacob Gannon (ICW), 52-6 1/4; 4. Ryan Piche (LM), 52-3 1/4.

Discus — 1. Jacob Gannon (ICW), 179-5; 2. Ryan Piche (LM), 166-8; 3. Sam Joens (CRP), 159-6; 4. Mark Jennings (LM), 156-7.

High jump — 1. Logan Ruffridge (CRJ), 6-4; 2. Griffin Gaeta (Musc), 6-2; 3. Peter Van Voorhis (ICW), 6-0; 4. Jordan Bradley (ICW), 6-0.

Long jump — 1. Bobby Millard (ICH), 20-9 3/4; 2. Richard Bryant (ICW), 20-0 1/2; 3. Jasper Washington (ICH), 19-8 1/2; 4. James Green (DW), 19-7.

3,200 relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Grabau, Gentzler, Starr, Razo), 8:02.19; 2. C.R. Prairie, 8:05.76; 3. Burlington, 8:09.04; 4. Iowa City High, 8:11.25.

3,200 — 1. Marshall Moyer (Burl), 9:30.00; 2. J.T. McCarthy (Burl), 9:30.34; 3. Scott Mittman (ICH), 9:30.78; 4. Chris Robertson (ICH), 9:31.89.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Ophoff, Amr, Lucas, Dunn), 58.74; 2. Iowa City High, 59.02; 3. Muscatine, 1:00.87; 4. Davenport West, 1:00.89.

100 — 1. Jordan Webb (Burl), 11.30; 2. Demarcus Chew (Burl), 11.41; 3. Bobby Millard (ICH), 11.56; 4. Aaron Hunter (LM), 11.59.

400 — 1. Aaron Razo (LM), 51.45; 2. Kyle Dunn (LM), 51.46; 3. Jared Hetzler (Musc), 51.87; 4. Matthew Hildebrand (CRJ), 52.05.

800 relay — 1. Burlington (Chew, Webb, Osborn, Simmons), 1:29.54; 2. Iowa City High, 1:31.31; 3. C.R. Prairie, 1:32.70; 4. Muscatine, 1:32.88.

110 hurdles — 1. Kyle Dunn (LM), 15.04; 2. Mason Greer (ICH), 15.45; 3. Brandon Ophoff (LM), 15.55; 4. Lucas Brenneman (ICW), 15.87.

1,600 — 1. Matt Stocker (CRP), 4:28.26; 2. J.T. McCarthy (Burl), 4:28.77; 3. Marshall Moyer (Burl), 4:29.40; 4. Scott Mittman (ICH), 4:29.49.

200 — 1. Jamal Simmons (Burl), 23.30; 2. Aaron Hunter (LM), 23.39; 3. Tim Ritter (ICH), 23.43; 4. Terrance Polk (Burl), 23.52.

400 hurdles — 1. Kyle Dunn (LM), 51.51; 2. Nick Lucas (LM), 55.28; 3. John Chelf (ICH), 55.47; 4. Tom Frieden (CRP), 56.11.

1,600 medley relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Erenberger, Harper, Johnson, Stocker), 3:37.55; 2. Iowa City West, 3:37.72; 3. Burlington, 3:40.37; 4. Iowa City High, 3:41.56.

800 — 1. Matt Stocker (CRP), 1:57.96; 2. Ben Witt (Burl), 1:58.03; 3. Jacob Gerber (CRJ), 1:59.09; 4. Kody Stahle (ICH), 1:59.24. 

400 relay — 1. Burlington (Chew, Webb, Osborn, Simmons), 42.68; 2. Iowa City West, 43.33; 3. Iowa City High, 43.55; 4. Linn-Mar, 43.66.

1,600 relay — 1. Burlington (Polk, Chew, Simmons, Webb), 3:24.94; 2. C.R. Prairie, 3:26.75; 3. Iowa City West, 3:27.03; 4. Linn-Mar, 3:27.45.

Decorah senior Andrew Peter will look to defend his individual state title, and help lead the Vikings back to the Class 3A state meet. The Vikings, who placed fourth at state last season, travel to Charles City for a sectional with Clear Lake, Crestwood, Forest City, Hampton-Dumont, Iowa Falls-Alden and New Hampton. The top four individuals and top two teams advance to next week’s district play, joing a Manchest sectional, consisting of Independence, Maquoketa, Oelwein, Union Waukon, Waverly-Shell Rock, Western Dubuque and West Delaware.

Marion will compete in a 3A sectional at Grinnell Country Club. The Indians will face Anamosa, Benton Community, Center-Point Urbana, Grinnell, South Tama, Vinton-Shellsburg and Williamsburg.

In Class 2A, Cascade will host a sectional at Fillmore Fairways. The field consists of Dyersville Beckman, Cascade, Clayton Ridge, Jesup, Maquoketa Valley, Monticello, North-Linn and Waterloo Columbus.

Camanche, Durant, Iowa City Regina, Mount Vernon, North Cedar, Solon, Tipton and West Branch will compete in a 2A sectional at Tipton Golf and Country Club.

Central Elkader, Keota and Wapsie Valley host area 1A sectionals.

“We’re on the outside edge,” said Jim Schultz, the school’s athletics director. “Eight (of our 11 conference rivals) are at least an hour and 15 minutes away.”

So it’s time to look elsewhere.

Lisbon has formally applied for membership into the Tri-Rivers Conference. If its application is accepted, Lisbon will join in 2012-13.

Tri-Rivers athletics directors and principals have green-lighted the expansion, with superintendents scheduled to vote at their annual meeting June 2.

“They’ve got some really nice athletic programs,” said North Linn AD Mike Hilmer. “I think there is some concern from some of our northern schools on travel, but (Lisbon) would be a good fit.

“If they come, we’d love to have one more come with them.”

Lisbon’s entrance would make the Tri-Rivers an 11-school league. Twelve would be optimal for scheduling and would open the possibility of divisions, by geography or enrollment.

Phil Steffen, retired AD at East Buchanan and now the Tri-Rivers activities director, said he has not received a letter of application from anyone else.

“We’re hearing that other Big East schools may be interested,” he said. ”Who knows how everything is going to play out?”

When North Cedar departed for the Cedar Valley Conference in 2008, Lisbon lost its lone conference rival from an adjacent district. Now, Olin is the only Big East school within a half-hour drive.

For Lisbon, the other Big East schools are an average of 55.3 miles away. The Tri-Rivers schools would have a mean distance of 41.1 miles, with four (Springville, Alburnett, Central City and North Linn) in the same county.

According to the 2008-09 BEDS Documents, Lisbon has an enrollment of 123 in grades 10-12 this year. The other Big East members have an average of 110.9 (with six below 90) while the Tri-Rivers schools have an average enrollment of 168.7 (none below 100).

The low enrollments at some of the Big East schools “makes it tough on us, especially at the junior-high level,” Schultz said.

Steffen said,  ”I’m sure there will be some school closings and consolidations in the near future. There’s quite a bit on instability in these economic times.”

Conner Smock is one of 25 boys that runs for the Lisbon High School boys' track team. (Brian Ray/The Gazette)

Lions to Brooklyn, Mustangs to Monticello.

And Zebras to Marion.

That’s the plan of action today for track and field athletes from southeast Linn County.

State-qualification meets —boys’ districts and girls’ regionals — will be held in all classes at 4 this afternoon.

(DISTRICT/REGIONAL ASSIGNMENTS can be found HERE.)

This is the sixth year for co-ed postseason competition, giving most fans a chance to see their boys’ and girls’ teams at one spot.

Not so for folks from Mount Vernon and Lisbon.

The girls’ program is merged and will defend its Class 3A state title next week at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

The boys’ teams are separate. Mount Vernon competes in 2A, Lisbon in 1A.

Alex Wilson is one of nine girls from Lisbon High School that runs for the combined Mount Vernon-Lisbon team, a squad is the defending Class 3A state champion. (Brian Ray/The Gazette)

“The girls have really enjoyed being together,” said MV-L Coach Bill Thomsen, whose team has named itself the Zebras this season. “We don’t have a humongous number of girls from Lisbon (nine of the team’s 36).

“But a lot of the ones we’ve got are phenomenally quality athletes.”

Alex Wilson, Kristin Canning and Bree Rehder would qualify for that list.

“A couple years ago, there was discussion of (splitting), but we didn’t foresee having enough numbers,” said Lisbon Athletics Director Jim Schultz. “The girls that have participated for Mount Vernon wanted to continue sharing.”

Meanwhile, 25 boys are out at Lisbon, a very strong number for a 1A school.

Sophomore distance ace Conner Smock figures to put Lisbon in the title chase next week. The Lions run at Brooklyn; the Mount Vernon boys will compete at Monticello.

Mount Vernon-Lisbon’s girls join top 3A girls’ challenger Dubuque Wahlert at Thomas Park Field in Marion.

For the boys, the route to state is clear: The top four from each district advance in Class 4A, the top three in 3A and 2A, and the top two in 1A.

The girls’ state field won’t be determined until all the results have been tallied and a cutoff line established.

In 4A, the top two from each regional automatically qualify in each event, plus the next 12 best performances statewide. In 3A and 2A, it’s the top two from each regional and the next eight best performances statewide. In 1A, it’s the champion from each regional plus 12 at-large qualifiers.

Defending 4A boys’ champion Cedar Rapids Washington will compete at Marshalltown, as will Kennedy and Xavier.

The Iowa City West field includes Linn-Mar, Jefferson, Prairie, West and City High.

Hahn, a defensive specialist bound for Iowa State, was one of 13 players selected to the first team. The players selected as Gym Dandies are primarily back row players.

She garnered Elite All-State honors for the second-straight year, racking up 628 digs as a senior.

Max Martino (with ball) has signed to play men's basketball as a walk-on at the University of Northern Iowa. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

CEDAR RAPIDS — Max Martino will guard the big guys. Or the little guys.

He’ll use his size. Or his speed.

“I’ll be whatever they need me to be,” Martino said Tuesday, after it was announced that the senior from Cedar Rapids Kennedy has signed to play men’s basketball at the University of Northern Iowa as an invited walk-on.

A two-year varsity starter at guard, Martino averaged 8.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game last season.

Martino (6-5, 195) is Kennedy’s 2010 Male Athlete of the Year and has been a standout on the track and football squads. He was a member of the Drake Relays champion in the shuttle hurdle relay and earned second-team all-state honors and first-team all-conference honors in football.

He learned of UNI’s interest during the basketball season.

“Coach (Bob) Fontana told me he had gotten a call from UNI. I thought, ‘All right, that’s neat,’ ” Martino said. “I didn’t really expect it to go anywhere.

“This is a very pleasant surprise. I’ll go up there to play defense and see where it takes me.”

UNI advanced to the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament last season.

“We are excited to add Max to our program,” said Panthers Coach Ben Jacobson. “He has achieved at a high level in the classroom and on the basketball floor. His work ethic is terrific.”

The game is Jan. 8, 2011, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The annual classic East vs. West match-up will be televised live on NBC at noon (Iowa time) and will feature the nation’s top high school football players.

Blythe has committed to play at the University of Iowa. French has offers with a number of Division-I programs.

The players were nominated by the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Selection Committee, which consists of All American Games’ network of regional directors throughout the country, Rivals.com and Tom Lemming. Of the 400-plus nominees, 90 will ultimately be selected and invited to this year’s game.

With rosters due Monday for Thursday’s Class 1A and 2A district meets, boys’ tennis coaches are challenged to find their best possible lineup.

It turns out that determining lineups for district competition is more complex than filling out a sheet with names. Coaches implore strategy to try to advance as many athletes to the state meet as well as improving the team’s chances to reach team substate.

Coaches and players have to decide whether to compete in singles or doubles play, assessing what is best for both the individual and team.

“It depends on where your individuals finish and how many matches they win and how many points they compile for your team,” Cedar Rapids Washington Coach David Meyer said. “There’s a lot of strategy that goes on.”

The process makes it extremely hard to gauge the meet. It can be a guessing game as to how the field will look. Coaches can get an idea of which direct a player or coach will go, but surprises can occur. Most coaches don’t want to tip their hand, according to Meyer.

“You take six players, but we don’t know where everybody is going to be. That doesn’t come out until the morning of the match,” he said. ”That’s all under lock and key until Thursday morning when we play.”

Meyer, who has coached the Warriors for about five years, recalled a year when the doubles bracket at district was loaded with the teams’ top players. Doubles matches are worth more points to the team score and can be key with the top scoring team advancing to substate and the second- and third-place team moving on to prelim substate.

“It’s a huge strategy thing because you get more points for doubles than singles,” Meyer said. “It’s more advantageous to win doubles matches sometime.”

Washington will vie for state and team substate berths at Veterans Memorial Tennis Complex for district hosted by Cedar Rapids Jefferson. The field also includes Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Cedar Rapids Washington, Cedar Rapids Xavier and Marshalltown.

“I feel we have a decent chance to finish in the top three, but you have to play well,” Meyer said of the team race. “You still have to step on the court and play your best tennis because we have a really strong district.”

Iowa City High hosts Iowa City West, Burlington, Davenport West, Muscatine and Ottumwa. Linn-Mar heads to Dubuque Senior for a district with the Waterloo/Cedar Falls schools and Dubuque Hempstead.

In class 1A, Marion, Maquoketa and Western Dubuque compete in a district at Davenport Assumption. Decorah, Independence, Oelwein and Union Community are at Waterloo Columbus. South Tama travels to Pella Christian.

The top two district finishers in both doubles and singles move on to the state tournament May 28-29. The 2A state meet is at Veterans Memorial Tennis Complex in Cedar Rapids. Byrne’s Park Tennis Complex in Waterloo will hold the 1A state meet.