DES MOINES — Seeded 21st and second for respective races, West Marshall senior Jace Eich had the same expectation for both of them.

Win, or give everything you have trying.

Eich posted a pair of personal-best times and left Thursday’s opening session of the Iowa Co-Ed State Track and Field Championships with a positive outlook after finishing 12th and third in those races at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

Eich ran 11.13 seconds in the Class 2A 100-meter dash preliminaries, improving from 21st to 12th with his first race on Thursday.

Seeded third in the 400 after a neck-and-neck district finale against Grundy Center’s Brayden Davie, Eich answered the bell in the third heat at state and clocked in at 49.29 for third place, posting his first sub-50 quarter mile and scoring six points for the Trojans before climbing the podium for the awards ceremony at the 50-yard-line.

“I came out with a lot of confidence,” Eich said. “I came out thinking that I should win all these races and I gave it my all out there.

“Both were PRs so that really does make it OK at the end. Usually after every 400 I go and puke, it’s like a routine now, but I knew that was going to happen. I went out there and knew it was my last race today so I gave it my all.”

PCM senior Riley Graber found himself behind Eich by a half-stride halfway down the homestretch, but the 6-foot, 3-inch, 205-pound Central Missouri football recruit had a little bit left to outkick Eich for the finish.

“I gave it my all on that last 40, I knew he was going to come up,” Eich said. “He did the same thing at our home meet, but I did my best at the end and that’s all I can say.

“I think I did have the lead, but that little 40 meters he always gets me.”

Graber finished in 48.99, while Okoboji’s Evan Osler won the second heat with the second-place time of 49.13.

“I think the 100 really gave me a taste of what the 400 was going to be like with all the pressure, so having that race before helped me prepare for the 400 mentally and physically,” Eich said. “It was a good warm-up.”

Eich was joined in the 400 by teammate Evan Siegert, a junior, Davie from Grundy Center, and East Marshall sophomore Cael Curphy.

Davie, who was seeded third, settled for eighth place in 50.02, while Siegert matched his seed in 18th place with a time of 52.65. Curphy collected 19th in 52.69.

Both Siegert and Eich will be a part of West Marshall’s sprint medley relay on Saturday, which qualified in sixth place.

West Marshall junior Addie Thompson was the Trojan girls’ lone representative on Thursday, finishing 15th in the 3,000-meter run with a personal-best time of 10:51.29. Thompson was seeded 16th in the event.

Trojan senior Kylee Schuler is seeded third for Friday’s high jump competition.

Along with Curphy, East Marshall had a pair of shuttle hurdle relay teams in action as well as sophomore thrower Ashtyn Wheater.

Wheater, who was seeded 12th in the shot put, placed 13th in the event with a heave of 37 feet, 4 1/2 inches.

The Mustang girls also missed their seed position by one place in the shuttle hurdle relay, as Marisa Cahalan, Vaeda Bryan, Makaya Hala and Cora Talbert took 15th in a time of 1:10.82.

East Marshall’s boys shuttle hurdle relay quartet of Blake Neuroth, Eli Burns, Chandler Curtis and Jake Farrington finished 19th in a time of 1:03.32.

The Mustang girls have three events remaining for state, starting with Friday morning’s distance medley relay. Talbert runs in the 100-meter hurdles prelims today, while sophomore Sydney Hull has the 800 and 1,500 on tap for Saturday.