March 28, 2024

Looking back at area athletes in Drake Relays history

DES MOINES — The Drake Relays runs for the 112th time today at the high school level and for parts of the recorded history, athletes in the coverage area of the Creston News Advertiser have come home with hardware.

Located at historic Drake Stadium since 1925, the information secured for this article begins in 1929 as that’s the first year of full results were made available by Drake University’s Cowles Library.

This attempts to be an exhaustive article, but based on availability of PDFs, that can’t be guaranteed.

The first recorded area school having any result at the Drake Relays was indeed Creston who came in second for the 880 Yard Relays in Class B. In 1932, Creston competed in Class A and B for the 440 Yard Relays. Creston was fourth in Class A and in Class B, the runners took home the first first place finish in this article with a time of 44.9 seconds, which was a event record.

Creston also took home first place medals in the 880 Yard Relays, and with a time of 1:33.1, they also had a new event record that displaced Clarinda’s 1:33.6 that was recorded in 1927.

In the 1937 edition of the relays, Creston finished fourth twice in both the 440 Yard Relay and 880 Yard Relay.

Two years later, Creston would taste the glory of gold again with a fist place finish in the one mile relay in a time of 3:34.5.

The 1940s were a decade of throwing success for area schools.

Dutch Goodwin, of the Corning Red Raiders, took home two silver medals in the shot put and football throw with respective distances of 46-0.5 and 195-7. Goodwin also placed fifth in the discus throw, as he threw 120.34 feet.

The following year, Wayne Oliphant (also of Corning) threw a football 173-9 and earned a bronze medal.

To finalize on the decade of throwing success, Creston’s Glenn Hartley threw a shot put 46-9.25 to bring home a third place finish.

The 1951 Drake Relays started fast, as Raymond Long wearing the maroon and gold of the Afton Tigers finished fifth in the 100 yard dash. Afton would consolidate with Arispe, Shannon City, Lorimor and Thayer to form East Union at the conclusion of the 1959-1960 school year.

Creston’s two mile relay team picked up a pair of fourth place finishes in the two mile relay in both 1951 and 1952.

Roy Bullock of Diagonal finished just shy of the podium in 1954 with a fourth place finish in the mile run.

In 1956, Conrad Persels of Osceola (now called Clarke) tied with LaVern Zobel of Tama for the gold medal with a high jump height of 5-10. The following year Persels again jumped 5-10, but this year it was good for fourth place as the winner jumped 6-0.75.

Both Vince Ashmore and Dick Johnson of the Villisca Bluejays tied for fifth with a jump of 5-8.

In the 50th edition of the Drake Relays, Creston’s Tom Hertz won both a gold and a bronze medal for his throwing efforts. His gold medal came in the football throw where he threw for 201-1.25. His bronze medal came in the discus when he threw his discus 140-5.75.

Gary Richards of Corning earned a silver medal with his finish in the 100 yard dash. In the discus Garry Wion placed fourth in the discus throw representing then Bluegrass Conference member Mount Ayr with a throw of 147-0.

Don Prichard, who ran the mile for the Bridgewater-Fontanelle Panthers, finished first with a time of 4:24.4.

A bronze medal would find its way to Rick Defenbaugh in 1964, as the Mount Ayr Raider completed the 120 yard high hurdles in 15.3 seconds.

Another Mount Ayr Raider, Duane Miller found success in 1965 and 1966.

In 1965, Miller placed fifth in the broad jump with a distance of 20-5.75. The following year, he placed first in the long jump (same event, however the official results label it differently) with a new Drake Relays record of 22- 7.25 inches. The record stood until 1970.

Also during the 1966 Drake Relays, Phil Werman of Villisca also set a new record in the pole vault discipline with a height of 13-9.

The Bluejays had another medal winner in 1972 when Mark Skahill came across the finish line second for the two mile run with a time of 9:33.8

Corning also placed on the podium with a third place finish in the one mile relay with a team consisting of Ron Wells, Bill Peckham, Danny Redel and Don Well who ran a 3:25.2.

Brent Geringer of Mount Ayr finished fourth at that year’s Drake Relays in the discus with a throw of 158-2.

Having run a 4:33.9, Roy McKay finished 16th in the mile run for Corning in 1973.

In 1974, Creston’s Roger Bruce became the last area athlete to place in the Drake Relays in the pole vault, an event Iowa high schools stopped competing in the year 1989, with a fifth place finish and a height of 13-0

Geringer returned but to throw a shot put instead of a discus, and he finished third having thrown 57 feet and 3.25 inches.

Corning and Clarke finalized the decade with success in jumping, throwing and distance running.

Jim Peckham, Corning, 15.1 second time in the 120 yard high hurdles placed him fourth in 1975.

In 1976, Tom Briles threw a discus 153-1.2 for a fifth place finish for the Red Raiders.

The following year, Leroy McCuen tied for fifth in the high jump as he cleared 6-4.

In 1978, Corning’s Shamus McDonough (who would eventually be an All-Big Eight Conference defensive lineman at Iowa State), finished second in the shot put with a throw of 59-6.75.

Marley Wubbena of Clarke, before his collegiate career at Central College, finished seventh in the 3200 meter run with an eight lap time of 9:39.86.

Clarke’s Tim Wilson finished second in the 1979 and 1980 3200 meter run with times of 9:28.47 and 9:17.21, respectively. Also in 1980, Wilson finished third in the 1600 meter run with a time of 4:21.77.

Lenox’s Suzi Walter finished seventh in the final for the 100 meter dash with a time of 12.88 seconds.

Field events took center stage for area athletes in 1989.

Brian Tucker tied for 12th with his high jump clearance of 6-3. Additionally, a trio of athletes placed in the discus. Leading the way was Chris Reed of Creston who finished 11th and threw 143-1. Corey Garner, Clarke, placed 24th with a toss of 129-2. Curt Pearson of Corning-Prescott threw 122-3, which placed him 26th.

During the summer of 1989, the Jim Duncan Track at Drake Stadium was resurfaced in Drake’s color shade of blue.

The first area athlete to place at the Drake Relays after the resurface was Nate Smith of East Union, who finished fourth in the 1600 meter run at the 1991 Drake Relays with his time of 4:27.46.

Clarke’s LeAnn Rychnovsky finished 21st in the girls 3000 meter run the following year.

Panther T.J. Dunphy placed 13th in the discus in 1993 with his throw of 143-1.

In 1994, Alyssa Swanson, the last Bridgewater-Fontanelle Panther to compete at the Drake Relays, finished 14th in the discus after throwing 115-1.

Also during those Relays, Chip Bundrage of Mount Ayr finished 13th with a throw of 129-11 and Janelle Barker of Villisca finished 12th in the high jump with a clearance of 5-0.

A pair of Mount Ayr throwers placed in 1995.

Clint Dredge finished 19th in the shot put with his throw of 45-9, and Chip Bundrage finished 10th in the discus after having thrown 145-5.

Becca Casey was the final Bluejay to place at the Drake Relays. She soared in the long jump, 16-3, and placed eighth in 1996.

Creston’s Mike Mansour placed seventh during the ‘97 boys long jump, as he lept 20-1.5 inches.

Kate Olesen was competing for relatively the new high school Nodaway Valley in the 3000 meter run. Olesen placed 23rd with a time of 11:03.58.

Mansour returned in 1998 and won the boys long jump and had a maximum distance of 22-2.75.

Mount Ayr’s Dan Nelson was also present, his 133-0 discus throw placed him 20th.

Creston’s boys high jumper Brian Bucklin tied for fifth in 1999 after having cleared 6-3.

Lindsay Diehl, of Clarke, finished ninth in the discus and threw just over 115-0.

Debbie Stephens of Mount Ayr horizontally jumped 16-1.5 to take home 10th in the Raiderettes uniform.

In the first Drake Relays of the new millennium, the boys sprint medley team from Mount Ayr placed 12th with a time of 3:38.52

Diehl returned for her second appearance and improved in distance, 117-7, but placed 12th.

Michael Schildberg was the second Wolverine to compete at the Drake Relays, having done so in 2002 for the high jump. Schildberg tied for 11th and cleared 6-2.

Panther Michael Buck made two appearances, one in 2002 and one in 2003 in the long jump. In 2002, he finished 13th (20-4.75) and in 2003 he finished ninth (21-5.25). His teammate, Nathan Weeda, finished 20th with a leap of 19-11.75.

Jordan Balfour was one of the final Corning athletes to appear in the Drake Relays. In 2004 and 2006 she competed in the discus, finishing 11th (117-0) and ninth (127-1) respectively.

Corning’s girls sprint medley relay also appeared at the 2006 Relays. They finished 15th with a time of 1:51.7.

Brant McCuen also wore the Corning colors, and in the 400 meter hurdles, McCuen placed fourth with a one lap time of 54.56 seconds.

Panther Sam Katzer finished seventh in the boys high jump (6-3).

Creston’s girls sprint medley relay mimicked 2006 Corning with a 15th place finish and a similar time of 1:51.89.

Former CNA managing editor, and now director of cross country and track and field at SWCC Scott Vicker, appeared in both the 1600 meter run and the 3200 meter run. In the former, Vicker placed ninth with a time of 4:25.96 and in the latter Vicker placed sixth with a time of 9:20.68.

Throwing events were on center stage for area athletes in 2010.

Panther Leah Hurt finished 17th in the discus with a throw of 98-7. Cade Lambson, a Mount Ayr Raider, placed 10th in the discus (160-11) and 14th in the shot put (48-10.25).

Braydee Poore represented Mount Ayr in 2011 in the boys high jump where he finished 19th with a clearance of 6-0.

There weren’t results listed for the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

Creston’s boys 4x800 meter relay team placed 15th (8:13.80) in the 2015 Relays.

In 2016, Creston’s Hannah Hood made her first appearance at the Drake Relays in the shot put discipline where she finished ninth with a throw of 40-0.

Mount Ayr’s boys sprint medley relay team was also there, and they finished 14th (3:35.75).

Hood returned in 2017, where she earned a bronze medal thanks to a throw of 41-2.25.

Kelsey Fields made her first of four event appearances in 2019. In the discus she placed 17th with a throw of 115-9 and during a torrential downpour, she placed 14th with a throw of 36-9.

In 2021, Fields competed in the same categories and placed second in the shot put (41-5) and fourth in the discus (125-2).

Nodaway Valley also had three events in which the Wolverines appeared in three events.

Maddax DeVault placed 21st in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 16.39 seconds.

In the girls 4x100 relay, they finished 11th with a time of 69.74 seconds.

Maddie Fry placed 16th in the long jump. Fry jumped 16-0.25.