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West senior Quinn is jumping for joy

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By Andrew Petersen | Saturday, May 10, 2008 1:00 AM CDT | () comments

Dominique Quinn can’t offer an explanation.

He’s as shocked as anyone.

The Davenport West senior added more than a foot to his previous best in the long jump at Friday’s Iowa Class 4A Pleasant Valley District track meet.

The leap gave him a 10-inch victory and a huge grin heading into next week’s state meet in Des Moines.

“It feels real good,” he said. “The hurdles really helped me get looser, and I had all the momentum in my take off.”

Quinn’s Falcons team totaled 32 points, but each of those tallies mattered. West qualified for state in the shuttle hurdle relay, 1,600-meter relay, 400 and 110 hurdles.

Quinn’s triumph was the most unforeseeable, despite winning the Mississippi Athletic Conference long jump title a week ago.

He only started long jumping three weeks ago to help earn the Falcons some points. In that time, he’s added 2 feet to his best, landing a 22-foot 2¼-inch effort Friday.

PV no two-man show

In most meets, Pleasant Valley coach Erik Belby can load up seemingly every open and relay distance event with whomever he wants.

At the district, each school is limited to two entries a event, so Belby is a bit more selective.

Runners such as Andrew Swanson normally would compete in the mile, but PV has five boys who have logged sub-5 minute 1,600 efforts this spring.

As a result, Swanson settled for a big push in the 800 anchor leg of the distance medley to vault the Spartans from third to first.

“It felt awesome,” he said. “I switched to the relays at this time last year. We want to get as many guys as we can (to state), and we got a bunch of people that are going to come watch, too. It’s not just football and basketball people want to see.”

In all, the Spartans qualified in 15 events and won the district by 26 points over Iowa City High.

Bulldogs make up ground

After City High’s James Taylor stumbled on one hurdle, Bettendorf’s John Chesley didn’t even see him crash to the ground on the final jump.

Chesley already was across the finish line, capping a third-to-first finish for the Bulldogs in the shuttle hurdle relay.

“I think it’s these are really fun to do,” Chesley said of the shuttle. “One you get your steps down, it seems natural. You just can’t slow down.”

Taylor held a comfortable lead for the Little Hawks, but he got tripped up. As a result, Clinton squeaked into the fourth slot and a spot at state.

North sprinters shine

After two Davenport North boys already had qualified for state in the individual 100, they helped two more continue their season as well.

Darian Peer and Blake White finished second and fourth in the 100 and also formed half the Wildcats’ qualifying 400 relay.

White anchored the relay in style, surging from third to win by 0.23 seconds.

“I need some action,” he said. “It’s nice to beat somebody. We’ve been finishing second and third all year.

“I’m ready to go back to state.”

Andrew Petersen can be contacted at (563) 383-2288 or apetersen@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qcvarsity.com.