Kennedy’s distance duo of Slader Buckheister and Adam Gray goes 1-2, twice ()

<p class="body">CEDAR RAPIDS — Slader Buckheister passed teammate Adam Gray, then apologized.</p> <p class="body">“Sorry about that,” Buckheister said after the 1,600-meter run, acknowledging that Gray “did most of the work.”</p> <p class="body">No apology necessary, Gray insisted.</p> <p class="body">“That felt good,” he said.</p> <p class="body">It felt good, twice.</p> <p class="body">A pair of juniors at Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Buckheister and Gray finished 1-2 in both the 3,200- and 1,600-meter races as the Cougars dominated the Cedar Rapids Invitational boys’ track and field meet Saturday at Kingston Stadium.</p> <p class="body">Kennedy won nine events and scored 208 points to headline the eight-team field. Linn-Mar was second with 129.5 points, followed by Center Point-Urbana (98).</p> <p class="body">In both races Saturday, Gray was the pacer. Buckheister was the kicker.</p> <p class="body">“I know I have that kick,” Buckheister said. “Adam’s great at keeping the pace. He has a lot of stamina.”</p> <p class="body">Buckheister was timed in 9:24.64 in the 3,200, 4:29.55 in the 1,600. Gray ran 9:25.02 and 4:29.80.</p> <p class="body">Both are likely to be among the Drake Relays field of 21 in the 3,200.</p> <p class="body">“We’re hoping we can both place in the top 10,” Buckheister said. “We should both be right there.”</p> <p class="body">It’s nice to have a training partner — “every day ... every single day,” Gray said — at this high of a level.</p> <p class="body">“It’s just been us two at most of the meets so far,” Gray added. “We haven’t really been pushed by anybody else yet.”</p> <p class="body">Led by Ryan Bartels, Kennedy now has two relays ranked in the top five statewide.</p> <p class="body">Bartels ran on the winning shuttle hurdle crew that posted a season-best 58.94 seconds and remains at No. 5. He also competed on the 4x100 that went 42.49 seconds, jumping from 35th to No. 4.</p> <p class="body">Kennedy is the defending state champion in the 4x100.</p> <p class="body">“I feel really good about our shuttle team,” Bartels said. “Things will really come together once the wind dies down.”</p> <p class="body">Bartels also won the 110-meter highs in 15.20 seconds.</p> <p class="body">“The wind was tough, but it feels good to finish the race,” he said. “I’d been disqualified in my first two (outdoor) meets because I couldn’t pull up and touched the hurdle.”</p> <p class="body">Center Point-Urbana’s Nathan Miller ran the 400-meter hurdles for the first time this season, winning in a 55.61-second effort that puts him on the Drake Relays borderline, for now.</p> <p class="body">“I was really trying to qualify, and that pushed me,” said Miller, who also anchored CPU’s winning sprint medley relay. “I pretty much ran the way I wanted to. I (cleared) every hurdle.</p> <p class="body">“The wind was tough. I didn’t want to finish, but I had to keep pushing through.”</p> <p class="subheadline1">Results</p> <p class="body"> <strong>Teams — </strong>1. C.R. Kennedy 208, 2. Linn-Mar 129.5, 3. Center Point-Urbana 98, 4. Dubuque Hempstead 88, 5. C.R. Jefferson 75, 6. C.R. Prairie 50, 7. Burlington 43.5, 8. C.R. Washington 43.</p> <p class="body"> <strong>Shot put — </strong>1. Shem Mally (Kennedy), 52-10; 2. Nelson Evans IV (Jefferson), 47-6; 3. Tyler Knight (CPU), 44-4 1/2.</p> <p class="body"> <strong>Discus — </strong>1. Nelson Evans IV (Jefferson), 148-6; 2. Carson Luense (Linn-Mar), 145-8; 3. Cohen Spurlock (CPU), 136-0.</p> <p class="body"> <strong>High jump — </strong>1. Brayden Peck (Kennedy), 6-2; 2. Donovan Crouchet (CPU), 5-10; 3. C.J. Owens (Burlington), 5-10.</p> <p class="body"> <strong>Long jump — </strong>1. Carter Andrews (CPU), 20-10 1/2; 2. Terrell White (Linn-Mar), 19-3 1/2; 3. Damarian Orr (Kennedy), 19-2 3/4.</p> <p class="body"> <strong>Sprint medley relay —</strong> 1. Center Point-Urbana (Knight, Andrews, Maloney, Miller), 1:35.93; 2. C.R. Washington, 1:36.97; 3. C.R. Jefferson, 1:38.44.</p> <p class="body"> <strong>3,200 — </strong>1. Slader Buckheister (Kennedy), 9:24.64; 2. Adam Gray (Kennedy), 9:25.02; 3. Ethan Cheney (Linn-Mar), 9:36.56.</p> <p class="body"> <strong>3,200 relay — </strong>1. Dubuque Hempstead (Leitzen, Lange, Henn, Scherr), 8:23.98; 2. Linn-Mar, 8:39.84; 3. C.R. Prairie, 8:49.06.</p> <p class="body"> <strong>Shuttle hurdle relay — </strong>1. C.R. Kennedy (Goslin, Bartels, Richards, Peck), 58.94; 2. Linn-Mar, 1:04.53; 3. Dubuque Hempstead, 1:06.81.</p> <p class="body"> <strong>100 — </strong>1. Raquis Robinson (Jefferson), 11.17; 2. Chauncey Bodden (Kennedy), 11.49; 3. A.J. Maloney (CPU), 11.50.</p> <p class="body"> <strong>Distance medley relay — </strong>1. Linn-Mar (Crosen, Schuett, Sonenstahl, Hanson), 3:34.40; 2. Dubuque Hempstead, 3:34.41; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 3:47.01.</p> <p class="body"> <strong>400 — </strong>1. John Hynek (Prairie), 54.17; 2. Tristin Cerney (Linn-Mar), 55.41; 3. August Wilkes (Kennedy), 55.46.</p> <p class="body"> <strong>800 relay — </strong>1. C.R. Kennedy (Dougherty, Doyle, Peck, Bodden), 1:31.42; 2. C.R. Washington, 1:32.54; 3. C.R. Jefferson, 1:32.61.</p> <p class="body"> <strong>110 hurdles</strong> <strong>— </strong>1. Ryan Bartels (Kennedy), 15.20; 2. Jackson Goslin (Kennedy), 15.75; 3. Darias Bures (Linn-Mar), 16.78.</p> <p class="body"> <strong>800</strong> <strong>— </strong>1. Lincoln McMahan (Kennedy), 2:02.46; 2. Ethan Cheney (Linn-Mar), 2:04.30; 3. Sammy Lange (Prairie), 2:04.79.</p> <p class="body"> <strong>200</strong> <strong>— </strong>1. Harrison Schuett (Linn-Mar), 23.72; 2. Louis Smith (Kennedy), 24.11; 3. Bradley Walton (Kennedy), 24.17.</p> <p class="body"> <strong>400 hurdles</strong> <strong>— </strong>1. Nathan Miller (CPU), 55.61; 2. Jackson Goslin (Kennedy), 56.13; 3. Donovan Crouchet (CPU), 57.45.</p> <p class="body"> <strong>1,600</strong> <strong>— </strong>1. Slader Buckheister (Kennedy), 4:29.55; 2. Adam Gray (Kennedy), 4:29.80; 3. Colin Henn (Hempstead), 4:51.39.</p> <p class="body"> <strong>400 relay </strong> <strong>— </strong>1. C.R. Kennedy (Dougherty, Doyle, Bartels, Bodden), 42.49; 2. C.R. Jefferson, 43.44; 3. Burlington, 43.77.</p> <p class="body"> <strong>1,600 relay</strong> <strong>— </strong>1. Dubuque Hempstead (Keehner, Fern, Harper, Brashaw), 3:26.75; 2. Linn-Mar, 3:28.65; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 3:37.20.</p> <p class="body"> <em>Comments: [email protected]</em> </p>