Meet Preview: The 108th Drake Relays - Saturday

            

The Saturday session of the Drake Relays will certainly be loaded with exciting races! The high school races will begin with preliminary heats of the Shuttle Hurdle Relays. The first high school finals are the Girls and Boys 4x800M Relays. The Assumption Girls have had an exceptional year so far after head-turning performances at New Balance Nationals Indoor this winter. The 1600M Sprint Medley team won the elite girls field with a time of 3:59.31, while Joy Ripslinger was also 4th individually in the 800M. Ripslinger won her second Drake Relays title in the Girls 800M Run on Friday of the Drake Relays with a time of 2:10, winning by over 4 seconds. They will look to win their **. Other teams to keep an eye on are Johnston, Waukee, Monticello, and Dowling Catholic. The top 5 ranked teams are all within 4.5 seconds of each other coming in and nearly 7 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. The Boys 4x800 holds a competitive field as well, led by Dowling Catholic who enters with a 7:57.62. The next best teams include Urbandale (8:03), Johnston (8:06), and Waukee (8:07).

            The next high school event will be the finals of the Shuttle Hurdle Relays, which will be determined by the prelim heats earlier in the morning. The Girls 1500M will be another battle of the sisters with Anna and Marie Hostetler and Jessica and Brooke McKee toeing the line once again after great performances in the 3000M on Thursday. Anna and Marie went 1 and 2 while Jessica and Brooke went 6 and 7 in the long-distance event. The Hostetler's come in with times of 4:43 and 4:47, respectively. Joy Ripslinger will also compete in the 1500, entering with a state-leading time of 4:38. Albia's Jordan Winke (4:47), Iowa City West's Bailey Nock (4:48), and Ellie Friesen of Crestwood (4:50) are other athletes to keep an eye on.

            The Boys 1600M should be another race leaving spectators on the edge of their seats! Gable Sieperda turned heads Thursday night after going out with a huge lead in the Boys 3200. He ended up finishing fourth behind Sam Schillinger, Ryan Murphy, and Patrick Bose. Those four will come back to face each other once again in the 1600 where Sieperda and Murphy both enter with times of 4:19. Patrick Bose comes in with a season-best of 4:22, while Schillinger has not yet raced the distance this season.

            The finals of the Girls and Boys 4x100M Relays will be run Saturday evening. In the preliminary heats, the Waterloo East Trojans nabbed the top place to advance to finals. The other teams competing in Saturday's finals are Dubuque Wahlert, Waukee, Assumption, Ankeny, Pleasant Valley, Benton and Pella. The 8 Boys 4x100 teams who advanced to the finals are the following: Western Dubuque, W Burlington, Davenport North, Waterloo West, Ames, Johnston, Urbandale, and DCG.

            Saturday's session will end with the finals of the Girls and Boys 4x400M Relays, considered to be one of the most exciting track events for athletes and spectators alike. The Girls race will be a fight between Assumption, Southeast Polk, Waukee, Cedar Falls, Pleasant Valley, Solon, Cedar Rapids Jefferson, and Decorah, while the Boys will be a battle between Sergeant Bluff-Luton, Waukee, Bettendorf, Iowa City West, Valley, Western Dubuque, Ames, and Iowa City.

 

Stay tuned for more previews of events and recaps of what went on each day!

Want more? Follow us on Twitter @MileSplitIA and Like us on Facebook @MileSplitIA