2 weeks Ago
The week-long Drake Relays bring together the best of the very best in the world of track and field. That includes Olympians, college standouts and of course, the top Iowa high school talent in the state. Thursday will see the beginning of the prep events as thousands gather inside Drake Stadium in Des Moines as part of the 115h edition of America’s Athletic Classic on the Blue Oval.
Among those set to be in action include University of Oregon commit Quentin Nauman from Western Dubuque , Kansas State University commit Reese Brownlee, University of Kentucky commit Tony Anania and University of Colorade commit Jaden Merrick. Anania of Norwalk and Merrick from Cedar Falls both set Drake Relays records last year in the 3,200 and 1,600 distance events. Nauman is the reigning 800 champion with contenders Caleb Ten Pas of Des Moines Christian and Moutafa Tiea of Iowa City West joining the field.
Ethan Zuber of Ankeny , another distance standout, was the runner-up in both the 1,600 and 3,200. He also ran on the record-setting 4x800 relay a year ago. Clear Creek-Amana thrower Landon Prince is the state leader in both the shot put and discus.
Five previous preps have swept the throwing events at Drake Relays. Brownlee, a senior at Clear Lake , won both the 400 hurdles and long jump a season ago. She is joined by Charlee Morton of Hampton-Dumont/CAL , the back-to-back winner of the shot put and discus.
Morton will be looking to become the second high schooler to win three straight titles in the shot put. In the long jump, Abby Mecklenburg of Linn-Mar will be looking to duplicate her state-record leap from earlier this year. The junior became the first girl to surpass 20 feet in the event, hitting the mark twice with a best of 20-8.
25..
