AMES
A pair of Springville boys got a head start on the 2023 track season taking part at the Iowa Association of Track Coaches (IATC) state indoor meet on the Iowa State University campus Friday, March 10.
Oriole boys’ track coach Tyler Husak brought senior Evan Robertson and sophomore Jack Stamp with him to Ames, where both turned in solid performances against an extremely talented field of competitors from big schools and small.
Stamp took part in the distance events at the IATC meet in the 3200 and 1600-meter events while Robertson handled the middle distance duties taking to the track in the 400 and 800 races.
Robertson got things started in the fast heat of the 400-meters coming through with a time of 52.59-seconds that included class 1A state champion Ryce Reynolds and state runner-up Theo Moseman. The Oriole senior got out fast on the ISU 300-meter indoor oval before finally placing sixth against the talented field, earning a first-ever state medal.
“I felt, given his mostly distance background, Evan had an outstanding race,” said Robertson’s cross country coach Tim Stamp, who was there in Ames helping Husak as well as watching his son Jack compete.
“Alluding to his versatility as a runner and overall speed that it takes to run a time that is less than a second above our present school-record for that distance, and an over one-second personal-record time for Evan.”
A little over an hour later Robertson was back on the track in the 800 where he ended up just out of the medals placing seventh with a 2:10.29 clocking.
“Given the short turn around, I felt Evan ran well,” Stamp said. “He has run a 2:07 earlier this winter and I felt on fresh legs he may have been top-3 in this race, but nonetheless, two solid performances on a pretty big stage.”
Jack Stamp was up next in the 1600, and against a field of 24-runners with 11 in the fast heat, the sophomore ran a sensational 4:51.26 clocking placing sixth overall and shattering his personal-record time of 5:06 in the event set outdoors last spring.
“The goal was to break the 5-minute barrier for the first time,” said Stamp of his son. “Jack ran in that fast heat so we knew the leaders would get out quick. It was critical not to get out too fast and make sure he ran his own race.
“That he did. Jack ran a very intelligent, evenly-paced race starting in the back and working his way up to through the field to his eventual sixth-place finish and a huge 15-second PR.”
Two hours later Jack was back on the track again where he placed a solid ninth in the 3200 crossing the finish line with another personal-best time of 11:17.01.
“On most days the 3200 would be on fresh legs as outdoors its one of the first races,” Stamp said. “So, to run a PR at this meet ended a solid day of work for Jack and a good finish to our day overall.”
