At any given practice, you may see Ankeny's boys distance runners laying flat on the ground, hands to their sides or folded on their chests and eyes closed.
Distance running and head cross country coach Jon Lindaman is asking them to visualize the upcoming race, all the way from getting the proper nutrition the night before to crossing the finish line and celebrating with their teammates. Every detail is important. The blades of grass on the infield, the feelings of their muscles, the wind in their faces. Lindaman has them visualize and attack each lap around the track, each turn on the cross country course, having them recognize that they can complete the next task at hand.
"You get pretty amped up thinking about meets," Ankeny senior Jake Bosch said. "Doing the visualization puts it all into perspective."
Prior to the Drake Relays, the quartet of Bosch, junior Nick Robie, sophomore Ike Smith and junior Ethan Zuber were paired together for the 4x800 relay for the first time. Considering the four were the fastest 800-meter runners on the team and had spent an entire season running cross country together prior to the season, it wasn't hard for the coaching staff to visualize that this was the best four for the job.
The four of them each visualized a remarkable day. Running each lap as fast as they could, earning personal records and securing white flags for their trophy cases.
"We knew something special was about to happen," Robie said.
What the visualization didn't show them was just how fast they would be. They outperformed their seeding by several spots to take first place, finishing in 7 minutes 39.54 seconds. From that day until May 3, it was the nation's fastest high school 4x800 relay time. As of Monday, that time was the third-fastest 4x800 race in the nation, trailing American Fork (Utah) High School's new season-best 7:31.57 and Herriman (Utah) High School's 7:34.58.
As the state track and field meet approaches Thursday through Saturday, the Hawks are preparing for their second race together as a 4x800 relay team. While the speed of these four was expected to produce something special, this 4x800 team is anything but ordinary as these four distinct individuals bring something different to the table and have crafted one of the nation's best in a school year's worth of work:
Jake Bosch: The Swiss Army knife
Track and field at its core is an individual sport.
While team points compile at the end and relays come together, individual performances and legs in a relay ultimately determine much of what will happen on a given day.
In many ways, Bosch is quite the individual talent. While he is a talented distance runner (11th-place finisher at the state cross country meet last fall), head track and field coach Jordan Mullen would feel comfortable placing him as a 200-meter dash runner as well.
That speed is a big reason he leads the 4x800 relay for Ankeny, helping the Hawks get out in front early with a good burst. Bosch is the heart and soul of not only the relay but also the team as a whole. Mullen said his willingness to be a "Swiss Army knife" and his perseverance through injuries from last cross country season have resonated with the entire team.
Though Bosch is respected for his leadership, he just looks forward to racing for his teammates each day.
"It's easy to look at individuals, but I enjoy running the relays and having guys on my back that I got to perform for," Bosch said. "I think that makes me a better runner and better athlete when I'm working with a team."
Nick Robie: The musician
The team will admit that Robie wouldn't stand out in a crowd as one of the fastest 800-meter dash runners the team has. A swimmer in the winter and a year-round choir and band student with a love for 80s rock, Robie doesn't fit the profile.
Yet, there's Robie, with the team's second-fastest individual 800-meter time of 1:58.88 in the outdoor season and 1:55 in the indoor season.
"He's a sleeper guy who actually really can get up and get moving," Zuber said.
Robie sometimes has to miss out on practice or offseason training because of his other obligations. Robie balances several after-school activities while maintaining his spot as one of the team's fastest runners.
His reasoning for participating in so many activities is that he enjoys putting the work in to become the best version of himself, which he learned from running.
"Working hard and putting time into seeing success emerged in cross country and track," Robie said.
Ike Smith: The missing piece
Smith is the youngest of the four, yet he may have had the biggest impact on this 4x800 relay team.
"He was that missing piece that we needed," Mullen said of Smith.
Mullen said Smith's freshman season was promising, but this past season saw him reach an entirely new level. That's in large part to an entire year's worth of work as being a "grinder," as Robie says. While Smith knew he was talented, he saw that he needed to put in the work during his sophomore year to reach that potential.
As a result, Smith attached himself to Zuber, the reigning Class 4A state champion in cross country and one of the best distance runners in the state. Jokingly and endearingly, Zuber calls Smith his "son" as he helps him reach his potential. Early-morning runs, weight-lifting sessions and other workouts were the norm in addition to their scheduled practices with the team.
As Zuber put it, they compete together not only in how fast they can be, but also in how they hydrate, how good their grades are and in almost every other aspect. This in part has helped Smith in his pursuit for zero, a common saying referring to trying to get the quickest time possible.
"I don't know if I'd be on the 4x800 team if I wasn't training with him all winter and summer for cross country," Smith said. "He just pushes me and tells me the honest truth."
Ethan Zuber: The unicorn
When Mullen is conversing with other coaches, he uses the term "unicorn" to describe Zuber. All of them know who Mullen is talking about without another ounce of context to the conversation.
"He is probably a once-in-a-lifetime athlete to coach," Mullen said.
Zuber anchors the 4x800 team and enters the state track meet as the second-fastest mile (4:09.49) and two-mile runner (8:56.68) in the field, regardless of class. Fairly impressive since he didn't begin running until his freshman year and admittedly didn't get the hang of things until his sophomore season last year.
While the talent he was born with certainly has helped him get to where he is now, his success has come from his desire to compete, something his teammates and coaches all cited as above and beyond what anyone else brings to the track.
Zuber said that even though his love of running isn't as intense as his teammates', his competitive edge brings out the best in him.
"I never ran and said 'Man, I love this, the best thing ever,'" Zuber said. "When you're out there against a bunch of other guys, it's the best feeling ever to go out and compete, push yourself hard and watch where other guys fall off. Or other times when those other guys break you and it's like, 'There's work to do.' That's the best part of running in my opinion."
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23
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