By Becky Walz,
Area athletes got a taste of the Drake Relays last week.
Members of the Decorah, South Winn, Waukon and North Fayette Valley girls’ and boys’ track teams competed in the famous four-day track event in Des Moines.
The meet takes place at Drake Stadium, the site of the high school state track meet, which is May 20-22.
Viking competitors
Decorah sent a total of five events to the big stage.
The 4×100 field featured 48 teams across all four classes. The Vikes placed 26th overall in 51.56 seconds. Team members were Brinley Krivachek, Brielle Buresh, Kailyn O’Gara and Lani Hubka. The winning time was 48.69, produced by Waukee.
Waukee also took the crown in the shuttle hurdle relay, crossing the finish line in 1:01.21. Of the 16 teams that laced up their shoes, the Vikes finished ninth in 1:08.63. Team members were Hubka, Anya Lovstuen, Kallie Mincks and Bella Knutson.
Knutson was one of the 32 individual Drake Relay qualifiers in the 100-meter hurdles. The senior finished 16th overall in 16.22 seconds.
The Viking boys put two events on the blue oval. Individually it was Haywood Stowe on the track in the 100-meter dash, finishing 11.43 seconds in 22nd place. Southeast Polk’s Titus Christiansen broke the tape in 10.94 seconds.
The boys’ 4×100 was one of 48 teams to compete. Joining forces were Addae Whitsitt, Cael Luzum, Drew Snyder and Stowe in a time of 44.65 to finish 32nd. Southeast Polk was victorious in the event in 42.39 seconds.
“It was great getting the opportunity to compete on the blue oval this year. Our overall seeds improved in both the 4×100 relay and Haywood’s 100-meter dash,” said Decorah boys’ coach Joel Rollinger.
Ohrt from SW
Senior Emmaleigh Ohrt represented South Winn at the Drake Relays. The senior thrower had a top throw of 114 feet 9 inches. That was good enough for 18th place.
Waukon’s best
The Indians had three individuals competing at the Drake Relays.
Representing the girls’ team was Annika Headington in the shot put. Her best throw was 37 feet 11.5 inches, good for seventh place.
The boys had two athletes in field events as well, with Braxton Stewart battling in the high jump and Creed Welch in the long jump. Stewart ended his at Drake in seventh place, clearing 6 feet 3 inches. Welch’s leap of 20 feet 6.75 inches placed him 13th in the field of 24.
NFV’s Boehm
Abby Boehm competed in two events at Drake, finishing 17th in both. The NFV senior sent the discus 116 feet even and later launched the shot put 36 feet 4 inches as the lone TigerHawk competitor at the Drake Relays.
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