The Ankeny boys’ track team tied for third place in the 2025 Drake Relays Cup standings. Both the Hawks and Cedar Falls scored 15 points.
Johnston broke a 20-point tie with Dowling Catholic via a better 4×200 placement to win the boys’ contest. The Dragons will be honored on the final day of the state track meet on May 24 along with girls’ winner Waukee Northwest, which racked up 33 points.
Ankeny scored 10 points by defending its title in the 4×800 relay. The Hawks added five points with a fourth-place finish in the 4×100 relay.
Reese Brownlee of Clear Lake earned the Gerry Cooley Award as the top girls’ high school performer at the Relays. Quentin Nauman of Western Dubuque (Epworth) won the Robert Kramme Award as the top boys’ high school performer.
Nearly four decades after Rock Valley’s Darwin Vande Hoef became the first athlete to win three individual Relays titles in the boys’ competition, Nauman matched it in 2025. A junior who has committed to Oregon, he completed his triple crown by winning the 1,600 on Saturday in 4:05.17, a Relays record and the fastest time ever in the state.
That came after Nauman won the 3,200 in record time on Thursday and the 800 on Friday, tying the Relays record in that event. Nauman is the first boys’ athlete in Drake Relays history to win those three races in the same meet.
Brownlee, a future Kansas State Wildcat, also hit a trifecta as the second high school girls’ athlete in Relays history to win three individual titles in the same meet, joining Shelby Houlihan in 2011. The senior won the long jump Thursday, 400 Friday, and set a Drake Relays record in the 400 hurdles Saturday.
Brownlee’s long jump crown was won by just a quarter of an inch over current state leader Abby Mecklenburg of Linn-Mar (Marion). She then nearly reset the girls’ 400 record with a 55.45 lap for the top spot.
Brownlee completed her triple play with a record 59.86 run in the 400 hurdles. She will also be honored at the state meet along with Nauman.
The 116th edition of the Drake Relays will be held at Drake Stadium on April 22-24, 2026.