Many season-best times were set at the Blue Oval on Saturday
April 15th during the Jim Duncan Invitational at Drake Stadium. While
we approach the Drake Relays, many schools wanted a chance to check out the new
track surface and prep their athletes for another historical year of races.
The girls posted some notable performances, including some meet records and state leads. Sydney Milani of Southeast Polk set a meet record in the 200M Dash after clocking 25.13. That mark places her second so far in the state of Iowa this season, behind Waterloo East's Kerris Roberts (25.00). Southeast Polk has shown multiple strong performances in the event this season, including MacKenzie Woodard, who is ranked just behind Milani with a time of 25.24. Laurel Hoogensen of Des Moines Lincoln was the only athlete to break the 1:00 barrier in the 400M Dash, running 59.28 and placing her 8th on the state rankings. Dowling's Kelsey Schweizer, sister of NCAA Division I Cross Country and 5Ki champion ran a blazing 2:19.05, just edging out Josie Hovey of Johnston, who currently sits in front of Schweizer in the rankings after clocking a 2:18.99 earlier in the season. They rank 8th and 9th respectively. Freshman Brooke McKee dropped jaws at Jim Duncan Field after running 4:50.55 in the 1500, placing her just in front of older sister Jessica at 6th and 7th in the rankings, respectively. Juru Okwaramoi also had a great day after placing 2nd with a 25.88 in the 200M dash, placing her 8th in the state rankings, while also placing 2nd in the 100M Hurdles in 15.69. Kenna Sauer from Ankeny Centennial had an excellent long jump performance, measuring 17-10.5 which puts her 4th in the state this season. In the girls 4x400M Relay, the Waukee team, made up of Delaney Taylor, Logan Akason, Mary Gray, and Lily Campbell set a meet record after running an impressive 4:00.65. That time places them first in the state of Iowa this season, sitting half a second in front of the next relay team from Pleasant Valley.
In the boys' races, the Blue Oval inspired some great performances and meet records as well. In the 200M dash, the top three athletes each broke the previous meet record of 22.52. In third was Tavien Gardner of Urbandale who ran 22.34. Johnny Pater of Johnston came in second after racing a 22.31. Just in front of those two excellent athletes was Justice Young from Des Moines East who ran a blazing time of 22.27. Those times place them 2nd, 3rd, and 5th respectively in the Iowa rankings so far this season. One of the most stunning performances from the Jim Duncan Invitational came in the boys' 800 M Run where Charles Niphong of Des Moines Hoover clocked a remarkable time of 1:56.30, improving his personal best by 5.5 seconds and beating the field by over 2 full seconds. His time puts him first in the state of Iowa this season by nearly a full second in front of Muscatine's Tyler Olson. The 1600M Run also proved to set some great times leading into the upcoming Drake Relays. 2016 Cross Country Champion Patrick Bose of Johnston, who will be joining the Iowa State Cyclones this fall ran a 4:22.62 to lead the state by nearly 2 seconds. Jackson Lewis of Waukee also ran a great time of 4:26.37 at the Blue Oval. The two have competed with each other quite a bit this season and should provide some excited races as we prepare to enter the Championship portion of the season. Ankeny Centennial's Camden Cox also competed in the 1600, running 4:25.93, while also racing and winning the 3200M Run. Cox clocked a 9:34.97 which is a personal best for the junior and places him 5th on the season-bests list for the state. Wade Barclay had a great day competing in both the 400M Hurdles and 110M Hurdles, winning both with times of 54.89 and 14.77. He is currently ranked 4th in both events across Iowa.
The boy's 4x100M meet record was broken by 0.04 of a second by Ankeny Centennial. The relay team was made up Sam Snyder, Gerald Sama, Chance Gibbons, and Ryan VanBaale, who together ran a time of 42.58, ranking them 3rd in the state so far. The 4x400M meet record was also broken at the Blue Oval when Waukee clocked a 3:20.84, made up of Ryan Modlin, Drew Johnston, Josh Andrews, and Tyler Groathouse, placing them in 1st on the rankings. The 4x800 also showed a state lead by Dowling Catholic, who ran 7:57.62. Yet another meet record was set by Tariq Brown of Valley after jumping 21-04.00. To add to the meet record list is Bedale Naba, also from Valley, who threw 169-01. He is currently ranked 5th in the state. The shotput once again showed some great performances, with three athletes breaking the previous meet record of 53-04.75. In third was Jacob Wiggins of Waukee (53-09.25), with Bedale Naba placing second with 53-04. The event champion was Maddux Richardson of Marshalltown who threw an excellent 55-09. Though that was not a season best for him, he is currently ranked 55-10.75. To round out the meet records is the Boys DMR, which was broken by Waukee in 3:33.36, breaking the previous record by over a full second. The relay team was made up of Dan Blocker, Drew Johnson, Josh Andrews, and Ryan Modlin.
Check out the full results here!
Want to see where each athlete's performances rank them so far this season? Check this out!