Demons prepped for Drake

It?s been a roller coaster for Macy Marek over the last couple of days.

After the Drake Relays cutoff was announced, the Washington senior learned she was just .03 seconds away from qualifying for the prestigious event.

On Wednesday morning, Washington girls? track head coach Stefanie Tschantz had some good news for Marek.

?I was in class (Wednesday morning) and Tschantz called me,? Marek said. ?I called her back after class and she told me that I had made it to Drake. It was exciting because it was so unexpected. I was really disappointed that I hadn?t made it, and I couldn?t run on Thursday (the last day of qualifying) because I was out of state. That was my last chance to try to make it.?

Tschantz said she missed the initial call from the Drake personnel, but when she learned what it was for, she couldn?t get back on the phone fast enough.

?(Wednesday) at work I had a missed call from work from a random number,? Tschantz said. ?I didn?t think much of it, but I checked my voicemail and I realized it was from Drake, so I called them back right away, and they said that Macy was in if we wanted her to be, so of course we said yes.?

Marek was put on the alternate list for the Drake field and with a number of the field unable to run, she got the call-up, something she had set as one of her major goals this season.

?I?m so proud of her. She?s put in a lot of work and this has been one of her goals on her goal sheets. This year she was just .03 on the cutoffs and luck is on our side.?

Marek?s season-best time of 12.78 seconds helped her qualify for the Drake Relays, and she will run in the prelims, which are set to start at 8:31 a.m. on Friday.

She is one of three Demons competing at Drake this weekend, as fellow seniors Tommy Peterson and Jacob Hennigan will be joining her in Des Moines.

Peterson will kick things off on Thursday afternoon in the shot put, and he knows that consistency in his throws will be the key to achieving his goal of finishing in the top three.

?Even if I do have a bomb on my first throw, I know that won?t be good enough to win it,? Peterson said. ?I?ll have to come back in finals and make a big throw there. Once you go in the last three throws, anyone can throw a 2-foot PR easily, it?s a lot of adrenaline making it there.?

Peterson qualified for Drake with the sixth-best throw in the state and a school record of 57 feet ? 7 ½ inches.

Washington boys? track head coach Steve Roth said it will be important for Peterson to stay in his element and keep on doing what he has done all year.

?Tommy had to throw his best throw in the third throw (at Mid-Prairie),? Roth said. ?That?s what we need from him, to get stronger through the event. Tommy was third at state last year, and he just has to do what got him there.?

The Demons? other qualifier, Hennigan, will be running on Friday morning in the 110-meter hurdles, and he said making Drake in his senior year was a big moment for him.

?It?s an awesome feeling,? Hennigan said. ?This is what I?ve been working for. I wanted to make it last year, but I got hurt, and being my senior year, this is a good way to go out.?

Hennigan qualified with the 10th-best time in the state, posting a 14.95, and he isn?t feeling any pressure about where he is seeded.

?As a 10th seed, I?m not going in with as much pressure,? Hennigan said. ?I?m not expected to win and that would be a lot of added pressure, and that shows every year. Those top-seeded guys tend to mess up, so I think I?m seeded well.?

In Roth?s eyes, the biggest key for Hennigan is to keep his momentum from this season rolling.

?Jacob?s confidence level is so high,? Roth said. ?If he hits a hurdle, he knows how to hit it and goes through it. If he runs like that on Friday, he?ll have a great shot at the finals. Mentally, he just needs to run his race and not worry about anything around him.?

Overall for the Demons, there was one message from the coaches that stood out: have fun.

?It?s an honor for them,? Roth said. ?It?s well deserved for (all) of them, and I think we should have had more people go, but that?s the way things go. There?s no pressure on them, no scoring, nothing. This is for them.?

Check out Friday?s issue of The Journal for updated results from Drake.