Des Moines, IA- A series of strong storms tried to disrupt the 116th Drake Relays Thursday afternoon into the evening causing for an abbreviated schedule; nevertheless, a couple of our local athletes still carved out time to compete yesterday, which included a pair of podium finishers.
The one change that affected our local athletes was Greyson Hartman of Washington will now throw the discus on Saturday morning at 8 am.
Boys’ High Jump
The field events led off the evening for our high school teams with a trio from southeast Iowa competing in Lathan Keller of Mediapolis, Fort Madison’s Nolan Guzman, and former state champion Eli Zillman of Fairfield.
It was already a tough starting height with the competitors starting at 6’2”. It took Keller all three events to clear that height but could not get past 6’4, tying him for 14th place. It took Guzman only two attempts to make 6’2, but was also stumped by 6’4, giving him 12th place.
Zillman had no issues with the starting height and needed second tries for 6’4 and 6’6, but 6’8 was a bit too high for the Trojan, locking him in a tie for 4th place.
The winner of the event was Ajak Malual of Waukee as the sophomore hit 7’0 in just his second try.
Girls’ Shot Put
A pair of state champions made their way into the ring for southeast Iowa as Burlington’s Kylee Hill and Pekin’s Anna Hadley were looking to add more hardware to the mantle. Hadley got off to a strong start with a toss of 40 feet and 6.25 inches, which would secure her spot into the finals, though she would beat that mark in her third throw with a toss of 42 feet and 0.25 inches.
Hill got off to an inconspicuous start, scratching her first throw. She then revealed her hand when she uncorked a throw of 47 feet and 2 inches in her second try. No one else cleared 46 feet in the field. In fact, her three throws that counted would have finished in 1st, 2nd, and 4th place.
In the finals, Hadley would add another foot to her total to finish in 4th place with a heave of 43 feet and 2.5 inches, just five inches away from the bronze. Hill, in her fifth throw, would unleash a heave of 47 feet and 9.75 inches to officially win the day by over two feet.
Both Hill and Hadley are throwing the discus Friday morning.
Girls’ 3000-Meter Run
In one of the last events of the evening, Chloe Glosser of Pekin was competing in the 3000-meter run and there was a clear hierarchy amongst the top three runners. Glosser started closer to the middle of the pack through the first 600-meters but intensified her pace to hold the top spot after the first third of the race.
Evelyn Moeller of Mt. Vernon would take over the top spot before Charlee Gall of Cedar Falls went from 3rd to 1st in the final 1,000 meters and secured the win by three seconds. Glosser, who had fallen back to 4th place, sprinted to a final lap time of 1 minute and 12 seconds to grab the bronze medal with a time of 9 minutes and 39 seconds, which was nine seconds faster than 4th place.
Up Next
Stay tuned to KILJ for updates and recaps throughout the multi-day event!