North’s Gutema, DV relays set records at Sioux City Relays [Video]

Sioux City North Middle School’s Kuma Gutema didn’t just beat the standing Sioux City Relays meet record in the boys’ 8th-grade 800-meter run.

He dominated it.

Gutema ran a time of 2 minutes, 2.37 seconds. Over 13 seconds better than the previous record, which was 2:15.17, set by South Sioux City’s Juan Balderas in 2017.

“The first lap was good, I felt like I was going at a good pace,” Gutema said. “I was trying to get under a minute for that lap but also save some energy. I ran a 56 (seconds) lap, so that got me off to a good start.

“Then I wanted to finished the last lap as hard as I can, last year I ran a 2:05, so I was happy to do better than that. But I think I could’ve done better if I paced myself a little better.”