Area athletes improve times Saturday

DES MOINES - Despite poor weather that included rain, wind and dropping temperatures, area athletes at the Drake Relays in Des Moines improved the times they posted to qualify for the Drake Relays.

Washington High School had Ethan Hunt in the 400-meter hurdles race. He was one of 16 who had qualified for the race and he had the 16th best time, that is until the race was run.

Hunt finished 12th, accomplishing his stated goal of not finishing last.

His qualifying time was 55.74 seconds and he ran a 56.1, which may seem slower until one considered the conditions.

His teammates that qualified as one of 96 400-meter relay teams improved their seeding time immensely. Spencer Sotelo, Luke Turner, Jacob Miller and Cade Hennigan had the 95th best time going into the meet at 45.35.

The quartet finished 50th in 45.06. They were fourth in their heat.

Washington also had a girls 400-meter relay team at Drake. Leah Marek, Isabel Bailey, Jenah Greiner and Ashley Telleen had the 75th-best qualifying time at 52.62. The team ran a 52.21 to place 54th. They finished second in their heat.

There were 12 heats each in the boys and girls 400-meter relay.

Mid-Prairie's boys 400-meter relay had qualified 93rd and ran next to Washington in the 12th heat, placing 55th overall and fifth in their heat. Clarke Latchem, Quinn Schmidt, Grant Boyse and Elmir Ganbegovic ran a time of 45.2.

BOYS 400 HURDLES - 1. Will Reemtsma (Davenport Central), 53.60; 2. Tyson Vander Linden (Lynnville-Sully), 3. Thai Thompson (West Des Moines Dowling), 54.09; 4. Dylan DeAngelo (Ankeny Centennial), 54.10; 5. Bret Price (Boone), 6. Will Burds (Western Dubuque), 54.53; 7. Trent Davis (Linn-Mar), 54.90; 8. Jace Christensen (Southeast Polk), 55.00, 12. Ethan Hunt (Washington) 56.1.

BOYS 400 RELAY - 1. West Des Moines Valley (Mitchell, Jake, Neu, Shaner), 42.48; 2. Western Dubuque, 43.21; 3. Waukee, 43.52; 4. Sioux City East, 43.72; 5. Linn-Mar, 44.12; 6. Ankeny, 44.41. One team did not finish. One team was disqualified. 50. Washington 45.06, 55. Mid-Prairie 45.2

GIRLS 400 RELAY - 1. Ankeny (Sidney, Van de Mortel, Fulk, Mayberry), 48.57; 2. Pleasant Valley, 49.02; 3. Davenport Assumption, 49.35; 4. Des Moines Hoover, 49.41; 5. Waukee, 49.73; 6. Linn-Mar, 49.94; 7. Bettendorf, 50.08; 8. Waterloo East, 50.34, 54. Washington 52.21.