Drake relays: Patterson, Morris battle in 400, hurdlers short of finals

DES MOINES — They come and go in a flash, but the area was well represented in the springs at the 2022 Drake Relays this weekend.

It was a Trojan-Demon showdown as two of Class 3A’s best 400-meter dashers met up when Fairfield’s River Patterson and Washington’s Elijah Morris circled the blue oval together on Friday.

It was Patterson who had the upper hand in the latest battle between the Southeast Conference leaders. Patterson finished fifth out of the 16 competitors, crossing the tape in 49.92 seconds. Morris took sixth, in 50.01 seconds.

Earlier in the day, the area’s hurdlers tried their luck in the 100-meter and 110-meter races, but nobody could advance to the final.

In the girls’ 100-meter hurdles, Fairfield’s Anna Dunlap and Kelsey Pacha went 24th and 32nd respectively. Dunlap finished the race in 16.80 seconds, and Pacha finished in 18.11 seconds.

WACO’s Simeon Reichenbach represented the Warriors in the 110-high hurdles. Reichenbach crossed the tape with a 28th-best time of 15.92 seconds.

Saturday morning brought the event with the highest amount of area teams competing, as the girls’ and boys’ 4X100 competitions took place.

The area’s top finish on the girls’ side went to Mid-Prairie. The Golden Hawks squad, featuring Emma Lueck, Alyssa McDowell, Tabitha Evans and Mitzi Evans finished 48th of the 96 qualifying schools, crossing the tape in 51.69 seconds.

Fairfield’s crew of Danielle Breen, Kiya Robertson, Coty Engle and Anna Dunlap finished 58th, crossing in 51.95 seconds. Mt. Pleasant’s quartet of Courtney Raub, Kenna Lamm, Tristian Shull and Andi Scott finished in 52.12 seconds, for 67th. Highland’s Grace Prybil, Sarah Burton, Katelyn Waters and Mackenzie McFarland were 92nd, in 53.63 seconds.

It was Mt. Pleasant that rose up above other area squads on the boys’ side. The Panthers’ 4X100 team of Colton Hutson, Will Davidson, Morgan Van Nyhuis and Avin Truong finished 48th overall, crossing the line in 44.50 seconds.

Washington wasn’t too far behind Mt. Pleasant. The Demon quartet of Ethan Patterson, Lucas Kroll, Jacob Miller and Elijah Morris finished in 44.57 seconds, for 51st.

New London’s Boden Pickle, Joel Lacey, Reean Seberg and Josh Catala finished the race in 44.68 seconds, for 57th. Finishing 62nd was the Mid-Prairie group of Tyler Helmuth, Cain Brown, Will Cavanagh and Carter Harmsen, who finished in 44.79 seconds.

Fairfield’s Aiden Lyons, Connor Lyons Tallon Bates and River Patterson were disqualified, one of seven squads to either DQ or DNF.

Iowa Wesleyan was in action on Saturday as well. The Tigers’ distance medley team took ninth in the Iowa College race. The squad of Jabez Rivers, Brady Musgrove, Marlon Brown and Logan Lucas finished in 11:52.60.