Drake Relays go under the lights with special event

By Dana Becker | Photos by Matthew Putney 

DES MOINES - The Drake Relays culminated Friday night with a pair of special events, as 19 athletes from Iowa and beyond were invited to run the mile.

On the girls side, Adrienne Buettner-Cable of Des Moines Roosevelt went 4:49.58 to win her second title of the day, while the boys saw Simeon Burnbaum of Stevens High School (South Dakota) capture gold in 4:02.36. The events featured runners from other states on the blue oval inside Drake Stadium.

Ballard’s Paityn Noe set the pace for the first three laps, as the 3,000-meter Drake Relays champion was just ahead of Buettner-Cable and West Des Moines Valley’s Addi Dorenkamp. However, down the stretch in front of the Drake crowd, it was the Roughrider overtaking Noe, who finished second in 4:49.91.

Buettner-Cable closed with the fastest 400 split of the race at 1:11.21, just ahead of Noe’s final 400 in 1:11.89.

Dorenkamp was third in 4:51.45 followed by Josie Baker of Kirkwood High School out of Missouri.

Burnbaum, who has committed to run at Oregon, overtook Jackson Heidesch from West Des Moines Dowling on the final lap after leading at the midway point, Heidesch, who will run at Duke, clocked a 4:02.76 with Wyatt Haughton of Shawnee Mission East in Kansas third and Iowa City High’s Ford Washburn fourth.

Heideisch had the lead at both the 400 and 1,200 marks, but could not hold off Burnbaum, who closed in 58.94 to the 59.61 time of the Iowa runner. Those were the two fastest splits of the race.

The fastest of the fastest

Jaidyn Sellers from Panorama and Miles Thompson of Cedar Rapids Washington proved why they are the fastest runners in the state, capturing titles in the 100-meter dash.

Sellers went 12.23 to push ahead of Jessica Kyne from Des Moines Hoover and Olivia Kramer from West Des Moines Dowling with relative ease. The junior would go on to show her speed in the 400 by holding off Cedar Rapids Kennedy sisters Sidney and Addison Swartzendruber.

In the 400, Sellers went 56.24 with Sidney Swartzendruber finishing in 56.87 and Addison Swartzendruber in 57.29.

Thompson, a senior, clocked a time of 10.54 to hold off teammate Michael Blank and Lisbon’s Baylor Speidel.

Down to the wire

Four boys came across the finish in the 400-meter run all within an eyelash of each other, as Ryce Reynolds from Mount Ayr was crowned the champion in 48.46.

Runner-up Elijah Morris from Washington had a time of 48.52, third place finisher Jashua Anglo from Johnston went 48.75 and Jackson Belding from Ankeny was fourth in 48.90.

In the 100-meter hurdles, Ali Frandsen from Ames edged Jerra Merchant of Spencer, going 14.33 to the 14.85 posted by Merchant. On the boys side, Grayson Hartman clocked a time of 14.10 to win the 110 hurdles title over Triston Miller from Columbus Junction.

In the 800,  Buettner-Cable and Clare Kelly of Van Meter cross at nearly the same time, as Buettner-Cable won gold in 2:10.62 and Kelly settled for silver in 2:10.81. Ammon Smith from Iowa City High denied Chase Lauman of Pella a second title, taking the 800 in 1:53.42.

Field event champions crowned

Duke Faley of Dubuque Wahlert picked up the discus title with a throw of 187-5, while shot put champion Spencer Kessel of Louisa-Muscatine was fifth. Southeast Polk’s Abu Sama once again showed why he is an elite athlete, taking the long jump title at 23-6.25.

Charlee Morton of Hampton-Dumont/CAL finished off a sweep by picking up the shot put championship a day after winning discus gold. Her throw of 43-3.5 was good enough to hold off Bishop Garrigan star Audi Crooks.

Maddie Olson from Sheldon was the only girl to clear 5-8, winning herself the championship there over a trio who bowed out at 5-6.

Four teams claim relay gold

Four different schools picked up relay gold, as Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Waukee Northwest won the girls sprint medley and 4x200, while Iowa City West and Johnston earned titles in the boys distance medley and 4x200.

Kennedy clocked a 1:46.10 behind Quren Hullon, Morgan Hospodarsky and the Swartzendruber sisters, as Sidney’s split of 55.00 in the 800 was enough to move them from fifth to first.

West denied rival Iowa City High with Todd Rent Izaiah Loveless, Aidan Jacobsen and Moustafa Tiea going 3:26.67, as they gained the lead at the 400-meter portion and never looked back.

Katie Stahl, Ke’Ayla Madison, Aunya Van Zetten and Avery Winter led Waukee Northwest to 4x200 gold in 1:41.33, while it was Tatum Fox, Caden Wilson, Jashua Anglo and Kaia Fox leading the charge for Johnston in the same event, as the Dragons went 1:27.29 to edge Iowa City West, who finished in 1:27.41.