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‘There’s more to see out of us’: Jaguars sprint to trio of top-5 finishes at Drake

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Ankeny Centennial’s Braeden Jackson takes off with the baton after receiving a handoff from Robert McGhee during the 4×200 relay on Friday at the Drake Relays. Ankeny’s Sam Sandvig is shown at left after running his opening leg. The Jaguars went on to place third in the event with a time of 1:27.60. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

While the Ankeny boys’ track team grabbed many of the headlines at the Drake Relays over the last two days, its crosstown rival showed off its strength in the sprint events as well.

Ankeny Centennial earned a trio of top-five finishes in the boys’ division, highlighted by a third-place finish in the 4×200 relay on Friday. The foursome of Robert McGhee, Braeden Jackson, Elijah Porter and Connor Welsch posted a time of 1:27.60.

“Obviously, we’re looking to build–get a higher place,” said Jackson. “But that’s an improvement on our time that we recently had, so we’re happy with it. But we can go back and fix the little things.”

ADM won the race in 1:27.34, while Harlan came out of the previous section to place second overall in 1:27.52. Ankeny was the pre-race favorite, but the Hawks dropped the baton on the second exchange and did not finish.

The Jaguars, meanwhile, are looking to run even faster at next month’s state meet.

“This was a PR and we’re happy about that, but there’s more work to be done,” said Porter. “We know we can do better. We didn’t have the best handoffs there. But that’s what we got conference, districts and state for. There’s more to see out of us. It’s just the Drake Relays–as crazy as it is to say that. But we know we’ve got state coming up that we’ve got to focus on.”

Ankeny Centennial’s Connor Welsch races to a fifth-place finish in the 100 on Friday at the Drake Relays. He posted a time of 10.88 seconds. Ankeny’s Logan Fairchild (middle) won the race in 10.62 after teammate Tyler Sickerson (left) pulled up due to a tight hamstring. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

Welsch and Porter also competed in the 100 on Friday. Welsch qualified for the final and placed fifth in a time of 10.88 seconds.

“That’s my PR, so that’s always good,” said Welsch. “I couldn’t ask to run much better.”

The final was ran from the south end of the track to the north due to the windy conditions.

“I really didn’t notice it too much,” Welsch said.

Ankeny’s Logan Fairchild won the title in 10.62 after his teammate, Tyler Sickerson, pulled up midway through the race due to a tight hamstring. Sickerson had posted the fastest qualifying time of 10.77 earlier in the day.

“I did not see what happened (to Sickerson). I was kind of dialed in,” Welsch said. “But I’m sorry about him. I’m not sure what happened, but I hope he’s ok.”

Porter also ran in the preliminaries, which were contested down the usual north-to-south straightaway. But he got off to a slow start and placed 22nd overall in 11.54.

“It was not good at all,” Porter said. “The gun went off earlier than I thought. It’s my first time running here at the Drake Relays. And if you mess up (the start), the entire race is going to be messed up. It’s a quick race.

“But Connor did great, and I was really happy for him to make the final,” he added.

Ankeny Centennial’s Elijah Porter gets ready to run the opening leg in the final of the 4×100 relay on Saturday night at the Drake Relays. The start of the race was delayed by about three hours due to a thunderstorm. The Jaguars placed fifth in the event with a time of 42.13 seconds. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

The Jaguars then placed fifth in the 4×100 relay on Saturday, one spot behind Ankeny. The quartet of Porter, Welsch, Lawson Langford and Max Snyder was clocked in 42.13 seconds, which was .01 faster than its time in the preliminaries.

ADM won the race in 41.38 and broke the Relays record of 41.70 that the Hawks had set earlier in the preliminaries. Harlan elected not to run after the final was delayed by about three hours due to a thunderstorm toward the end of the meet.

“It was a weird race with the delays,” Welsch said. “I wasn’t sure when we were going to run. It was different, but it wasn’t too big of a deal. It was the same for everyone. I kind of wanted to place better, but we ran solid and PR’d both prelims and finals so that was good!”

Ankeny Centennial’s Connor Welsch hands off to Lawson Langford during the preliminaries of the 4×100 relay on Saturday morning. The Jaguars advanced to the final with a time of 42.14 seconds. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

Earlier on Saturday, Centennial placed 16th in the 4×800 relay. The team of Brayden Vander Wilt, Corbin VanderWeerdt, Aammin Hassan and AJ Schermerhorn posted a time of 8:02.56.

“The whole relay agreed that it was a super fun race to be a part of,” said Schermerhorn, who ran the anchor leg in 1:58.97. “None of us had been in a situation where we got the baton in an outside lane at the same time as a dozen other teams, so that made it a true learning experience. I was really happy with how everyone adapted to what was going on, and everyone was able to execute their role.”

Ankeny won the race in 7:39.54, smashing a 39-year-old Relays record by more than 6 seconds. The Hawks posted the fastest time in the country this year.

Ankeny Centennial’s Brayden Vander Wilt (left) takes off at the start of the 4×800 relay on Saturday at the Drake Relays. He helped the Jaguars to a 16th-place finish in a time of 8:02.56. Jake Bosch (middle) runs the opening leg for Ankeny, which went on to win the race in 7:39.54, which broke the Relays record and was the fastest time in the country this year. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

Centennial’s Cael Woods also competed in the preliminaries of the 110 hurdles on Friday. He placed 27th overall in a time of 15.73 seconds.

Jaden Damiano of Iowa Falls-Alden went on to win the final in 13.84.

Ankeny Centennial’s Cael Woods runs alongside Ankeny’s Hayden Carlson during a preliminary heat of the 110 hurdles on Friday at the Drake Relays. Woods placed 27th overall in 15.73 seconds, while Carlson finished 28th in 15.74. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)