Friday’s session of the Drake Relays produced many memorable moments on a cool and overcast day, including a record-setting performance by the Ankeny Centennial boys’ track team.
The Jaguars raced to a victory in the 4×200 relay in a meet-record time of 1:26.55, finishing .56 seconds ahead of runner-up Newton. It was one of five high school marks that fell on the day.
“It feels great,” said leadoff runner Robert McGhee. “Just amazing.”
McGhee, Cael Woods and Caleb Reed ran the first three legs before Braeden Jackson anchored the team to the victory. Jackson ran the final 200 in 20.62 seconds.
“I trust all these guys to put me in a great position to come in and close out the race,” said Jackson. “I’m just happy to have all these guys as my teammates.”
Jackson had earlier placed ninth in the 100 in 10.88, missing the final by one-hundredth of a second.
“Obviously, missing it by .01 lights a little bit of a fire inside of you, but just being able to come out here and compete the way that we did, I’m very happy with it,” he said.
It was the second relay title and third overall in school history. Current NFL player Riley Moss helped the Jaguars to the shuttle hurdle relay crown in 2017, then won the 110 hurdles the next year.
“We had some confidence going in,” said Woods. “But really, we knew that in order to win we just had to run our own race. Our biggest competitor was ourselves. But I think we did a great job.”
After the race, the Jaguars took a traditional victory lap around the blue oval while hoisting their coveted Relays flags.
“It feels great,” said Reed. “I’ve been training all season for this.”
Woods earlier placed sixth in the 110 hurdles. He qualified for the final by posting a time of 14.51 seconds in the preliminaries, then ran 14.52 about two hours later.
Woods ran in Lane 1 both times.
“Honestly, it’s weird, but I like Lane 1 at Drake,” he said. “I had it at the Jim Duncan meet and did really well there. I’m just thankful that I got a chance to run the race again. It’s a fun race. I love them.”
Brady Wallace of Treynor won the event in 13.80.
Ankeny got a third-place finish from Ethan Zuber in the 800. He turned in a time of 1:53.45.
“I’m happy to be here,” said Zuber, who also placed third in the 3,200 on Thursday. “I’m grateful to God for this opportunity that I have to compete with such great competition. I’m grateful that I get to lose as often as I do because that’s what it’s about. It’s not about winning and dominating. It’s about coming out and getting your butt kicked, going back home, learning what you did wrong, and going back to work the next day. I might be mad about a loss, but there’s beauty in that too.”
Quentin Nauman of Western Dubuque (Epworth) won the race in 1:51.76, tying the meet record. The Oregon recruit broke away from the field on the final lap, just like he did in the 3,200 on Thursday–when he also set a meet record.
“He’s a great competitor,” Zuber said. “He was really building. If you watched him as a sophomore (last year), and I followed him a little bit, he was really progressing and he’s kept up that progress. As you see, he’s been dominating this Drake Relays weekend. He’s a great runner, great competitor, and he’s got a hell of a kick.”
While Zuber added another Relays medal to his growing collection, two of his teammates weren’t as fortunate in the 110 hurdles. Senior Landon Pote and junior Hayden Carlson, running next to each other in the same preliminary heat, were both disqualified.
Carlson took a tumble midway through the race and fell out of his lane. Pote, meanwhile, went on to post a time of 14.40 that appeared to qualify him for the final.
However, he was DQ’d shortly thereafter by meet officials.
“They said he touched a hurdle with his hands,” said Ankeny boys’ coach Jordan Mullen. “I tried everything (to get the disqualification reversed), but I’ll respect their decision and we will focus on the shuttle hurdle relay (on Saturday).”
In the girls’ division, Ankeny earned a trio of top-eight finishes. Reagan Hanfelt tied for fifth in the high jump, Makenna Madetzke took sixth in the 800, and Morgan Fisher finished seventh in the 400.
“We were very happy with the way our athletes competed,” said Ankeny girls’ coach TJ Jumper. “We had multiple PRs. What we as coaches like the most is how they mentally approached their competition. We put a big emphasis on being ready to perform their best in big competitions. We are building to the end of the season, and our athletes are in a great spot.”
Hanfelt, who had placed third in each of the previous two years, cleared the bar at 5 feet 4 inches on her second attempt. She then missed all three tries at 5-6.
“I think I jumped ok,” said Hanfelt. “I just wanted to put my best effort out there because I’ve had a lot of things going on with volleyball and track recently. I was just trying to focus on this, because right after this I’m going to Salt Lake City. I’m just trying to do one at a time.”
London Warmuth of ADM (Adel) won the event with a leap of 5-7.
Madetzke set a personal best in the 800, posting a time of 2:14.03. She dropped 1.6 seconds in the event.
“I didn’t really have a time goal,” said Madetzke, who ran the second-fastest time ever at Ankeny. “I just wanted to run with the pack and see where I could land. I’m really proud.”
Kadence Huck of Nashua-Plainfield won the race in 2:10.51.
Fisher, a freshman, posted a time of 57.40 seconds. She now ranks third on the school’s all-time list in the 400.
Reese Brownlee of Clear Lake won the race in 55.45, edging Huck by .2 seconds.
Centennial’s Anna Woods placed seventh in the 100 hurdles for the second straight year. She was clocked in 14.81 seconds after running 14.82 in the preliminaries.
“I’m really happy with my time,” said Woods. “I wanted to get a PR today, and I got it.”
Valley’s Emma Havighurst won the event in 13.82 seconds, which set a meet record.
After the race, Woods hurried across the infield to the high jump pit, where she missed all three of her tries at the opening height of 5-2.
“I’m not very happy about that, but it’s whatever,” Woods said. “There wasn’t a lot of time to figure out what was going on, I feel like. I was just really rushed.”
Both the Ankeny and Centennial girls later qualified for the final in the 4×400 relay. The Centennial boys also advanced in the 4×400.
Here are the rest of Friday’s results:
Boys’ 100: Noah Ross (AC), 11.32 (32nd).
Girls’ sprint medley relay: Ankeny (Ava Leinen, Maya Durbin-Wilson, Riley Kayser, Gracie Lindaman), 1:53.74 (21st).
Boys’ medley relay: Centennial (Joel Neith, Sam Heither, Corbin Vander Weerdt, Cohen Moll), 3:33.27 (11th); Ankeny (Samuel Sandvig, Treyton Grossman, Tate Brownsberger, Isaiah Smith), 3:34.91 (15th).
Girls’ 4×200 relay: Centennial (Anna Woods, Bella Buesch, Aly Drefke, Aly Balashaitis), 1:46.81 (22nd); Ankeny (Alice Oleson, Gracie Lindaman, Brylee Bach, Riley Kayser), 1:48.50 (23rd).
Boys’ 800: Nicholas Robie (A), 1:58.44 (15th).
Girls’ 4×400 relay prelims: Ankeny (Morgan Fisher, Reagan Prendergast, Charlee Cibula, Lillian Buckley), 3:57.82 (3rd); Centennial (Aly Balashaitis, Ava Barten, Cora DenHartog, Teagan Jackson), 3:58.48 (4th).
Boys’ 4×400 relay prelims: Centennial (Jackson Reed, Robert McGhee, Corbin Vander Weerdt, Braeden Jackson), 3:19.42 (8th); Ankeny (Tate Brownsberger, Quin Somers, Alexander Zuber, Nicholas Robie), 3:29.31 (23rd).
