Previewing the Drake Relays - Sprints/Hurdles (100, 100H/110H, 400H)
Predicting Drake is always a crapshoot. The best way to predict any future event is to look at the past. With varied weather conditions (especially the wind in the sprints/hurdles), it’s difficult interpreting prior 2011 performances and predicting what will be at Drake. But we’ll do it anyway, and appreciate your Comments and/or participation in related Discussions / Forum Posts.
Some of the best ever Iowa HS sprinters/hurdlers will come together at Drake (4/28-30) this year; and with good wind readings, could result in some all-time best performances.
In the girls 100m, it should be a dual between Des Moines Roosevelt’s Erin Hawkins and Hannah Stouffer (Urbandale). Others in the mix will be Agnes Sayeh (Des Moines North) and McKennan Cronbough (Iowa City West), with Davenport North’s Tamika Tucker the sleeper. LaNeisha Waller’s (Cedar Rapids Washington) 2003 Drake Relays record 12.13 could go down.
Incredible depth in the boys 100 will create a nightmare for the picking/timing system. Over 20 sprinters have already run under 11.00 in 2011, all within .3 of each other. Frank Leachman (DM Roosevelt) and defending champion James Harrington (Cedar Falls) are the favorites, with Leachman given a slight edge. Other strong sprint contingents from Des Moines schools will be joined by those from Sioux City West & Heelan and Council Bluff Lewis Central from the west, along with sleepers from smaller schools Cole Hocker (Bondurant-Farrar) and Jamie Foster (Centerville), to challenge Leachman and Harrington. The Drake Relays record of 10.63 (Marcus Simmons, Davenport North, 2000) is in jeopardy.
Logan-Magnolia’s Alex Gochenhour, arguably Iowa’s greatest all-time all-around female track and field athlete, will get her last chance to shine in Drake high school competition. In the 100mH and 400mH events, Alex will be going for records while the rest of the field will be going for seconds. She is the defending champion and record holder (14.46) in the 100H; and will be going after A.G. Bradford’s (Davenport North, 2008) record of 61.01 in the 400H.
Racing to be bridesmaids in the 100H are Destani Welch (DM Roosevelt), Mikayla Knaack (Gladbrook-Reinbeck), Dani Coover (Belle Plaine), Taylor Twedt (West Fork), Rachel Peth (Waverly-Shell Rock), Khanishah Williams (Burlington), and Maddie Anderson (Ames). In the 400H, contenders will be Gochenhour’s teammage Karen Hutson, Griswold’s Lauren Moore & Rachel Northrup, Holly Stalzbrenner (Mount Vernon/Lisbon), Brooke Foreman (Cedar Rapids Washington), and Natalie Olberding (Lewis Central).
Kyle Dunn (Linn-Mar, Marion) may be able to duplicate Gochenhour’s double in the boys 110 and 400 hurdles, but will have greater challengers. Dunn is the defending Drake Relays champion in both; but will get major competition from Tyler Donels (SE Polk), Keegan DeMeulenaere (Belle Plaine), Brandon Moorman (Mount Pleasant), Hunter Nelsen (A-H-S-T, Avoca), and Erik Bergstrom (Johnston) in the 110’s; and from Ben Boesen (Dowling Catholic), Nick Efkamp (Madrid), Scott Oman (Valley, West Des Moines), Zach Manders (Clear Creek-Amana), and Jamey Foster (Centerville) in the 400’s. The boys’ hurdle records seem relatively secure (110H - Jordan Mullen, Atlantic, 14.04, 2009; 400H - Dustin Avery, Ames, 51.94, 1995); but with Dunn & company and perfect weather/wind conditions, one or both could go.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s Preview of the Distance Events. Records in all four events??