DES MOINES — As the first of 13 state meet entrants for the Grundy Center boys’ track and field team, Spartan junior Emerson Vokes was out to set the tone.

Mission accomplished.

Vokes became Grundy Center’s sixth individual track champion by dominating the Class 2A 3,200-meter run on Thursday at Drake Stadium, setting up the Spartans with a quick 10 points to kick off their busy three days at the Iowa Co-Ed State Track and Field Championships.

Vokes, who won the 2A state cross country title in the fall, followed suit with a happy and healthy eight laps around the famed blue oval. His eighth and final lap was his third-fastest circuit around the track and helped to place him alongside Spartan assistant coach Dana Schmidt as Grundy Center’s second 3,200-meter champion (2007).

Schmidt was a two-time 1,600-meter champion as well, and one of the Spartans’ remaining state meet entries is Vokes’ run at the mile on Saturday.

“Coach (Chris Conger) told me to make a mark out there,” Vokes said after his first-place finish. “I was our first race, so light a spark and that’s what I did out there. I got 10 points and that’s all for the team. I’m just really excited for these next few days, it’s going to be awesome to see everyone’s work pay off.”

Vokes set the standard in a big way, grabbing the lead from the opening gun and going out to the front for the entire race.

“That’s the way I run,” he said. “I figured they’d come with me for a little while so I was gonna go out fast and see if they could hang. I just ran the race I know how to run. I ran hard, tried to push the whole time; the wind was a little tough but I went out there and got it.”

Vokes reset his school record with a time of 9 minutes, 27.66 seconds, which ranks as the 20th-fastest all-time in Iowa.

“Everything paid off,” Vokes said. “Ever since the end of cross (country) season it’s not always been the highest of highs, so working through that and getting to this point is just an extended part of God’s plan for me and I’m just so blessed to be able to come out here.

“I work hard but He’s the reason I’m here and I did everything I could in that season and He did the rest. I’m at a loss for words right now. He’s so good and I’m just so blessed.”

Vokes finds his strength on the track through his spirituality, pointing skyward with every finish line he crosses — often in first place.

“It’s a whole different environment, but the adrenaline’s still the same,” Vokes said comparing cross country to track. “There’s nothing really to compare that feeling with when you cross that finish line. I got a taste of it last year with the 4×8, I led it for a little while, but crossing it in first and you win and you get that flag and point that finger up, it’s the same atmosphere and the same environment but it’s just different.”

Vokes was the first of four Grundy Center entrants to take to the track on Thursday, and the first of two to score points. Fellow junior Brayden Davie was seeded third for the 400-meter finals but settled for eighth place with his time of 50.02.

The Spartans’ shuttle hurdle relay quartet of Tiernan Vokes, Devin Hinders, Jacob Hoy and Pete Lebo posted a season-best time in the preliminaries to qualify third for Saturday’s finals. Seeded sixth with their district-winning time of 1:01.10, Grundy’s group got lower with a 59.95 on Thursday.

Junior sprinter Judd Jirovsky was unable to improve upon his 13th seed in the 200 preliminaries and placed 17th with a time of 22.61.

“We’re just a really well-rounded team,” Emerson Vokes said. “A lot of tough guys, a lot of guys who know how to put their head down and work and that’s what it’s all about.”

The Grundy Center girls know a thing or two about that. Sophomores Ava Heeren and Maddy Hendershot both were on the track on Thursday, and both bettered their seeds.

Heeren had first crack at it for the Spartan girls, and she made a statement in the 100-meter prelims. Seeded 20th (13.17), Heeren qualified fifth for Saturday’s finals with a personal-record time of 12.51.

Hendershot was seeded 10th and took ninth in the 400, finishing in a personal-record time of 59.15.

Grundy Center’s girls have seven more entrants scheduled for the next two days, plus Heeren’s spot in the 100 finals.