High school events crown champions at Drake Relays

Champions in several events crowned as high school athletes compete at Drake Relays

Landon Prince of Clear Creek-Amana captured the first high school Drake Relays title on Thursday. / Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The high school portion of the 115th Drake Relays started on Thursday as rain, wind and relatively cold weather greeted fans and athletes in Des Moines from Drake Stadium.

More events hit the Blue Oval of America’s Athletic Classic on Friday before concluding Saturday. There will also be professional athletes, college, university and more all in action.

Claiming the first title in the high school division was Landon Prince, as the Clear Creek-Amana standout thrower won gold in the boys shot put. Prince, who won the first Drake Relays title for his school, had a best of 61-10.75 on his fifth attempt, as he held the lead throughout all six rounds.

Greyson Hartman of Washington was second and Tom Mikkelsen from Creston finished third.

In the boys long jump, Valley’s Miciah LeLaCheur used a leap of 22-10 on his fifth try to surpass T.Y. Pour from Cedar Rapids Prairie for first place. Pour finished second while Mason Woods of Iowa City West earned bronze.

Tyson Seeser from Camanche, who also competed in the long jump, claimed gold in the high jump after successfully clearing 7-0 on his second attempt. Ryan Little of Albia and Eli Batterson from Benton were unable to get over the bar at 6-10, finishing second and third.

The boys 3,200-meter field featured many of the best runners in the state. Quentin Nauman of Western Dubuque, a junior who captured gold here last year, won the race in 8:52.45, climbing from fourth to first over the final lap.

Canaan Dunham of Pella was second with Ethan Zuber from Ankeny placing third. 

Charlee Gall of Cedar Falls made a statement in the girls 3,000, as the freshman dominated the race in a time of 9:44.19. Lili Denton of Council Bluffs St. Albert was second followed by Chloe Glosser from Pekin.

In the girls discus, Delilah Subsin of Ottumwa bested defending champion Charlee Morton of Hampton-Dumont/CAL. On her second throw of the event, Subsin launched it 156-9, surpassing an earlier throw by Morton.

Morton, who would inch closer with a toss of 149-4, was second followed by Olivia Hilby of Dubuque Wahlert. 

In one of the featured events of the day, Clear Lake’s Reese Brownlee topped Linn-Mar’s Abby Mecklenburg for the long jump title. Brownlee, a defending state and Drake champion who has committed to Kansas State University, surpassed Mecklenburg on her third jump at 18-10.

Mecklenburg, the first Iowa girl to clear 20 feet in the long jump in state history, had gone 18-9.75 on her second attempt. Aiden Gosselink of Grinnell was third.

Complete results from the Drake Relays can be found here.