DES MOINES — The New London High School boys track and field team has arrived.

And what an entrance the Tigers made.

After finishing second in the Class 1A 4×200-meter relay on Friday, the Tigers topped that on Saturday.

The team of Cale Westerbeck, Gavin Strawhacker, Brigham Porter and London Franklin made the ultimate statement, winning a state championship in the 4×100 in a school-record 42.50 seconds in front of a record-setting crowd of 14,000 fans at Drake Stadium.

As Franklin crossed the finish line .31 ahead of Lisbon, the emotions came pouring out.

A year’s worth of blood, sweat and tears culminated in a state championship, and a fourth-place finish in the Class 1A team race with 30 points.

The Tigers have arrived.

The roar has been restored.

“Very, very emotional. It’s a great feeling knowing we have this flag. We did the unthinkable,” said Franklin, who earlier in the day finished fifth in the 100 in 11.08.

“It’s awesome,” Porter said. “My oldest brother was here. I had to continue in his steps. Thanks to God, thanks to our families, thanks to our friends and coaches, we are here holding up the flag for New London.”

Westerbeck has been explosive out of the blocks all season. He did the same again in the biggest race of the season.

“This is what we’ve been looking forward to all year,” Westerbeck said. “We came in with a clear mind, knowing we were going to bring it home. Just go out and run the best time can. We have great chemistry. We had to keep the same mindset coming in. We knew what our job was.”

After opening the outdoor season with a pedestrian 44.66 and a runner-up finish to Columbus on the Wildcats’ home track, freshman Gavin Strawhacker wasn’t sure what to expect.

What transpired over the course of the next 54 days was absolutely astonishing.

“I didn’t know we were going to be here. The first meet we were pretty slow. After that we got faster and faster and faster and now we won,” Strawhacker said. “I trusted my teammates, telling me to run fast.”

After beating Lisbon in the preliminaries on Friday night and bringing the top time into the final, the Tigers knew they had to get the baton around the track cleanly. One slip-up and the dream would turn into a nightmare.

“That’s everything,” Strawhacker said. “If you have a bad hand-off you’re going to have a bad time. We progressed through the season and got better and better and better.”

Columbus, which finished fourth in 43.52, pushed the Tigers throughout the season.

“Our first big PR was against Columbus,” Porter said. “Columbus was the only ones pushing us in those little meets. I really think without Columbus we wouldn’t really know how much potential we have as a team.”

New London ran a near-perfect race. The hand-offs were flawless.

As Franklin crossed the finish line, the celebration was on as his teammates ran to mob him.

“I knew it was my last race and I just had to give it all I’ve got,” Franklin said. “I just wanted to lay it on the track. In my heart I know what I can do. I just had to lay it all out on the line.”

As they blazed the blue oval in school-record time, the Tigers sent a clear message.

New London has arrived, and they will be back hungrier than ever next year.

“We knew how much potential we have,” Porter said. “We beat Lisbon two times. We knew how hard we worked. This was our ultimate goal. This is what we had in our heads since the start of the season. That’s why we’re here now.”

“It feels awesome,” Westerbeck said. “Coming into Drake we were going for that meet record. We have high hopes for next year breaking that state record. We’re bringing back everybody.”