It didn’t take long for the records to fall at this year’s Drake Relays.
Ankeny junior Ethan Zuber broke the previous Relays record in the boys’ 3,200 on Thursday, but had to settle for a runner-up finish. Zuber was edged by sophomore Jaden Merrick of Cedar Falls, who won the race in 8:55.14.
Merrick ran the fourth-fastest time on the state’s all-time list. Zuber crossed the finish line in 8:56.68, which smashed the school record and ranks sixth in state history.
The previous Relays mark of 8:58.27 was set by Dallas Center-Grimes’ Aiden Ramsey in 2014.
“I knew I was capable of running something of that caliber,” said Zuber. “I’m really not a time guy–I don’t follow times and I don’t push myself for times. I like to compete in a big meet like Drake–you get the best competition in Iowa and at state obviously. That was amazing to compete with those guys. I got carried along to that time. I really wanted to get (Merrick) at the end there, but he got the better of me today.”
Merrick and Zuber ran 1-2 almost the entire way. Zuber surged ahead on the final lap, but Merrick regained the lead with about 250 meters left to go and then held on for the win.
“You never really know if you have a guy once you pass him, because you can’t keep looking back,” Zuber said. “I made a move. I tried to hold him off, and I think he got me in the backstretch and carried it home from there.”
Merrick’s victory was followed by another record-setting performance in the girls’ 3,000. Valley’s Addi Dorenkamp pulled away from the field early on and went on to post a time of 9:23.69 for her first Relays title in the event.
Despite running all by herself, the Alabama recruit set an all-time Iowa best with a time that was the second-fastest in the country this year.
“It was perfect,” Ankeny junior Drew Beason said of the running conditions.
Beason placed fourth in the race in 10:03.66, setting a personal record. She was fifth in the event a year ago.
“I’m pretty happy with it,” Beason said. “My goal was to run the first lap kind of in the middle and then slowly pick people off, which I think I did pretty well. I was hoping to run sub-10, but I still set a new PR by about 2 seconds. And I wanted to place better than last year, which I did.”
Centennial junior Anika Mohrhauser also competed in the race. She placed 12th in 10:19.25.
Mohrhauser had moved into ninth place with 800 meters left.
“I think I did ok,” said Mohrhauser. “I just needed to finish stronger, so I’ll have to work on that. I just wanted to place right about where I came in–which was 12th.
“It was really nice (weather) to run in, especially with the fast competition pushing you,” she added.
Ankeny also got a third-place finish from junior Reagan Hanfelt in the girls’ high jump. She cleared the bar at 5 feet 5 inches on her first attempt, but then missed all three of her tries at 5-7.
“I jumped ok,” said Hanfelt, who also took third as a sophomore. “It’s just a really fast track, and I didn’t stand back far enough. I also forgot a couple of the technical things I was supposed to work on.”
Centennial freshman Anna Woods tied for 21st place in the event. She cleared 5-1 on her third attempt, but was unable to go any higher.
“It wasn’t very good,” said Woods. “I wasn’t nervous until I came here, and then it kind of hit me. I thought I could try to get 5-6 today.”
Jaidyn Sellers of Panorama and Sydney Maue of Mount Vernon both cleared the bar at 5-7. Sellers, who bounced back after missing her first jump at 5-1, won the title based on fewer misses.
In another field event, Centennial sophomore JJ Morgan placed 15th in the boys’ long jump. He jumped 20 feet 8.75 inches on his first attempt, but was unable to improve his mark on the next two tries.
Jack Miller of Jesup won the event with a leap of 23-3.75.
