Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Cardinal Mooney's Ike Lake, Donovan Whetstone, De'Andre Riley and Tyree Dawson pose following the boy's 4x200-meter relay at the Division IV state track meet in Columbus.

COLUMBUS — Cardinal Mooney had quite the quick turnaround early Friday afternoon. With the boys 4×200-meter and 4×100-meter relays only 20 or so minutes apart, the opportunity to lock in and engage was there.

The Cardinals brought some hardware back to Youngstown, winning the Division IV 4×200 with a time of 1:27:75. There wasn’t much time to celebrate, however, with three of the four members of that relay squad having to compete in the 4×100, which saw Mooney earn fifth at 42.75 seconds.

Senior De’Andre Riley was a member of both podium relays, but their events were about school pride.

“It was very special trying to bring it back home for the Mooney family, all of my real family, all of my friends, just trying to win for everybody,” Riley said. “It’s amazing to do, especially with these people. I love these boys a lot. We put in some hard work, dedication, worked on hand-offs. We did it all together from the start until the end of it.

“We spend a lot of time together, we room together, we do everything outside of track together, just building team chemistry.”

Fellow senior Ike Lake was the anchor in the 4×200, which was a last-minute decision. He was previously an alternate two years ago on the 4×100.

“It’s tough, I got a lot of pressure on me. I have to do it for my teammates. It’s not about me, it’s about my teammates. It was hard having that pressure on me.” Lake said. “This was very special, to come here and get first place and actually feeling it on the podium with my brothers.”

Sophomore Tyree Dawson was the third Cardinal that placed in the two relays.

“It felt amazing. We’ve put in the work, we wanted it,” Dawson said. “It was kind of rough (running the 4×100 right after the 4×200), but we just want it. You just have to trust in God and everything is going to work out.

“Just doing stuff together, working together and being dedicated.”

The 4×200 began with sophomore Donovan Whetstone. Mooney was looking for redemption after a ninth-place finish in the 4×400 last June.

“It’s crazy, especially because I have two more years left to win it this young, it’s an accomplishment, I feel great.” Whetstone said. “I didn’t want to feel that feeling of losing ever again, so that motivated us. We worked all summer, all winter, all spring leading up to this moment.

“All of us are dedicated to the 200, so we just threw a relay together and went with it.”

With fresh legs, senior Tony Jackson had the task of giving his other three teammates a strong start to the 4×100 with the hasty turnaround.

“I try to push out as hard as I can to give the team a good start, which wasn’t the best today, but I tried my best today,” Jackson said. “I’m just happy God put us in a position to even come out here and perform and put our school on the map and really show them what it’s about.

“Knowing that my teammates accomplished first place, it was great. I couldn’t have felt better. It pushed me to push harder in the 4×100.”

Riley reflected on the aura of Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

“It’s real nice, looking up at the crowd and seeing a lot of people here,” Riley. “Getting the gold medal, trying our hardest and doing our best.”