DES MOINES — A culture of excellence has long been established at Grundy Center. With the highs of winning a state title in the sprint medley relay to the lows of a disqualification in the shuttle hurdle, emotions ran high on Saturday at the Iowa Co-Ed State Track and Field Championships.

In the first event for the Spartans, the squad of Grant Newton, Brody Zinkula, Judd Jirovsky and Brayden Davie achieved their ultimate goal: a state title.

“I mean we got here around 8:30 and we were just ready to dominate,” Zinkula said. “We wanted this flag right here and we got it. We gave it all and I give all the credit to this guy right here.”

Zinkula motioned to Davie, the anchor of the winning relay. The junior Davie carried the baton home for the quartet, crossing the line in 1 minute, 31.84 seconds, taking more than second and a half off their previous season best.

Being neck and neck down the home stretch with Denver was a nerve-wracking experience for Davie, yet he stayed calm and executed under the pressure.

“We’re on top, they can’t hang with us,” he said. “That’s all I can think of right now.”

Emotions stayed strong for the Spartans heading into the shuttle hurdle relay finals. Tiernan Vokes, Devin Hinders, Jacob Hoy and Pete Lebo finished in a time of 1:00.53, yet there was a yellow flag erected from an official on Lebo’s last hurdle.

Hitting his trail leg on the penultimate hurdle, Lebo stumbled into the final hurdle and made the grave mistake of using his hand to push the hurdle down. Despite finishing in fifth place, the group was disqualified and their time scratched from the history books. Though visibly distraught and upset, the group kept on with the meet.

After winning the 3,200 on Thursday night, Anchoring the distance medley to eighth place on Friday night, Emerson Vokes lined up for his final event of the meet: the 1600.

In a tactical affair for 2A’s top distance runners, Vokes found himself out in lane 2 within a large pack for most of the race. When the pace changed gears, Vokes didn’t stick with the leaders. The event was won by Vokes’ district meet rival, Alex Torres of Vinton-Shellsburg in a time of 4:19.02 while the junior Spartan placed fifth in a new personal-record time of 4:21.25.

In the final event of the state meet, Grundy looked to make history in the 4×400 meter relay. The primer event that distinguishes strong teams from the weak. Jirovsky, Zinkula, Brayden Wallis and Davie, all returning from other events throughout the three-day meet, lined up to take on the 4×4.

In spectacular fashion, the group held the lead until the very end of the race, with Davie on the anchor. Going down the final stretch with Rhyker Wright of Okoboji, the junior was narrowly beaten. Leaning hard at the line, the time on the screen was fast enough to destroy their previous school record set in the prelims of 4:19.79. Taking the time all the way down to 4:16.49, the group simply got beat.

A visibly emotional team walked their way to the podium.

“I don’t question our effort at all.” Jirovsky said. “I think we gave it a hundred percent each leg. You know it sucks, we come down and get second, especially being that close. You can’t blame any individual. I know we gave it our all today.”

Despite the somber mood, Zinkula brought up the brotherhood shared between the group.

“I wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else besides these three,” he said. “They’re my best friends and I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else.”

The win vaulted Okoboji into a tie for the 2A team title, sharing it with Spirit Lake with 65 points apiece. Denver and Treynor tied for third with 48 points, while Grundy Center placed fifth with 40 points.