Des Moines, IA- Des Moines, Iowa will be the hub for some of the most talented track and field athletes in the world as state champions, national champions, and even Olympians migrate to the Blue Oval for the 116th running of the Drake Relays, starting on Wednesday, April 22nd, and going through Saturday, April 25th.
The high school division is set to start their competition on Thursday, April 23rd, and southeast Iowa will be well represented throughout the multi-day event. Here’s a list of our local athletes that will be making the early trip west.
Boys’ 100-Meter Dash
A trio of local athletes from southeast Iowa who all finished in the top five of their respective class state races last season. Ryan Bair of Keokuk, who grabbed the silver medal last year, comes into this race after just breaking the Denny White Relay meet record in the event.
The man who finished behind him in last year’s race, Landry Haberichter, of West Burlington/Notre Dame will also be soaring into the event. Lastly, London Franklin, who took 5th place at state last year, will also be in the 32-man heat.
The event will go at 9:13 am on Friday, April 24th, for the preliminary.
Girls’ 100-Meter Dash
Despite taking the year off, Burlington’s Mylee Stiefel will be returning to the Blue Oval as one of the fastest runners in southeast Iowa. Nevertheless, Alex Scott of Mt. Pleasant will be looking to give her trouble.
Hillcrest Academy’s Rya Scott will also be running. The first heat will start at 9:03 am on Friday for the preliminary.
Boys’ 400 and 800-Meter Events
The reason we combined these two events is because only one local athlete will be competing and more specifically only Van Buren County’s senior star Lincoln Bainbridge will be running for the Warriors.
Bainbridge will first run at 1:57 pm on Friday in the 800-meter run, then participate in the 400-meter dash with a start time slated for 5:46 pm.
Girls’ 400 and 800-Meter Events
As the only freshman in the 400-meter dash and one of two freshmen in the 800-meter run, Avery Fedler of Mt. Pleasant will also be the lone runner representing southeast Iowa.
The 800-meter run will run at 1:44 pm on Friday with the 400-meter dahs going at 5:28 pm that night.
Girls’ 1500-Meter Run
Why not add another event to the freshman’s slate? Fedler will be competing in the 1500-meter run. And to keep the patter, Fedler is one of only three freshmen that will be participating in the event. Fedler will compete at 4:28 pm on Saturday.
Girls’ 3000-Meter Run
Pekin’s Chloe Glosser will run in the long-distance event. The event is scheduled for Thursday at 6:11 pm.
Boys’ 110-Meter Hurdles
Columbus’ Lamar Ceant entered the season with high expectations after nabbing the silver medal in this event at state last year and the surrounding times belonging to seniors. He will get a chance to show his skills as a junior this year with teammate Alex Rees, who also finished in the top 8 at state last year. The Wildcats will go at 8:49 am on Friday for the preliminary with the finals at 10:39 am the same day.
Boys’ 400-Meter Hurdles
Might as well go for the trifecta as Van Buren County’s Bainbridge will be busy throughout the three-day event. Bainbridge will finally be done at 3:09 pm on Saturday.
Boys’ 4×100 Meter Relay
It will be a large field of local teams sending a squad for one of the more electrifying events of the meet.
West Burlington/Notre Dame will be bringing Maddox Diewold, Kellan Porter, Eli Oleson, and Landry Haberichter.
New London’s defending Class 1A state championship quad of Brigham Porter, London Franklin, Cale Westerbeck, and Gavin Strawhacker will look to express their expectations for the season.
Will Luttenegger, Brock Spears, Kyler Crow, and Henry Luttenegger will run for Mediapolis, while Aliyas and Alijah Brock along with Riley Smith and Nolan Glick will compete for Pekin.
Keokuk’s speed will continue to be on display with the team of Kurt Joy, Jackson Bair, Antonio Crockett, and Ryan Bair. Joining the Southeast Conference bid is Fairfield’s Dayson Workman, Voss Richardson, Ethan Bisgard, and Spencer McCready.
Lastly, Djamar Exantus, Alex Rees, Domonic Garcia, and Lamar Ceant will take off for Columbus.
The preliminaries will run at 10:12 am on Saturday. The finals will run after 2:30 pm on Saturday.
Girls’ 4×100 Meter Relay
The Southeast Iowa Super Conference will outrank the Southeast Conference in the 4×100 meter relay with three teams versus the SEC’s two squads. In Danville’s only appearance in Des Moines, the Bears will have Macie Wagner, Violette Sowell, Alivia Bauer, and Alaina Gourley run.
Highland will tout Hailey Brun, Kamryn Fink, Alexa Hahn, and Kinzie Ruess, while Karina Bourha, Adia Scott, Niva Helmuth, and Ryan Scott will compete for Hillcrest Academy.
In a possible show of foreshadowing for the conference title it will be Mt. Pleasant’s crew of Ellie Freeman, Kynlee White, Taylor Williamson, and Delaney Anderson, who just ran to the 10th fastest time in school history in the event, competing against Washington’s Jaslyn Villa, Jaedyn Moore, Leighton Salazer, and Leighton Messinger.
The girls’ teams will run at 9:40 am on Saturday for the preliminary race. The finals will run after 2:30 pm on Saturday.
Boys’ 4×200 Meter Relay
Travarius Smith will tag in for Crockett for Keokuk’s 4×200 meter relay team that just recently broke the meet record at the Denny White Relays. The Chiefs will compete at 1 pm on Friday.
Girls’ 4×200 Meter Relay
Washington will be the only local team sending a team in Jaslyn Villa, Lauren Drahota, Leighton Messinger, and Jaedyn Moore. They will run at 12:47 pm on Friday.
Girls’ Sprint Medley Relay
Mt. Pleasant’s Delaney Anderson, Kynlee White, Alex Scott, and Avery Fedler will be looking to feed off the momentum of their school record run at the Denny White Relays with a time of 1 minute and 47.3 seconds, which beat the Blue Oval mark by nearly a full two seconds.
The Panthers will run at 9:50 am on Friday.
Boys’ Shot Put
The Southeast Conference will be sending two to throw the 12-pound orb in Urijah Brooks from Fort Madison and Washington’s Greyson Hartman. The shot put is scheduled for Friday at 9 am.
Girls’ Shot Put and Discus
Pekin’s Anna Hadley will throw along with Burlington’s Kylee Hill, a pair of state champions. The shot put will compete at 5 pm on Thursday, while discus will throw at 8:30 am on Friday.
Boys’ Discus
Washington’s Hartman, who just broke the Denny White Relay meet record, threw his personal best of 182 feet and 11 inches at the event. That throw would have won the Class 3A championship last year, an event he finished 3rd in. He will throw at 2:30 pm on Thursday.
Boys’ High Jump
Again, the Southeast Conference will have a pair competing in the high jump. Fairfield’s Eli Zillman, who won the state championship two years ago, will leap along with Nolan Guzman of Fort Madison. Tagging along will be Mediapolis’ Lathan Keller. The trio will jump at 4:30 pm on Thursday.
Girls’ High Jump
After breaking the school record, Winfield-Mt. Union’s Quin Smith will be looking to clear that mark of 5 feet and 5 inches. She will leap at 9:30 am on Friday.
Up Next
Stay tuned to KILJ for updates throughout the day and written recaps at the end of the day’s events throughout the multi-day event.