Relays provide motivation

The Drake Relays, officially the Drake Relays presented by Hy-Vee, are an elite track meet for Iowa student-athletes.

For high schools in Iowa, it could be considered a more prestigious event than the state meet, which is divided into four classes. Drake just takes the top times (which is different depending on the event) and there is no classification except high school.

Washington senior Jenah Greiner was especially inspired to recover from an early-season injury as soon as possible because she had been a part of a Drake-qualifying 4x100 meter relay her first three years.

'Wanting to run at Drake for a fourth year in a row was a huge part of my motivation,” she said. 'I mean if I made it my freshman year, I should definitely be there my senior year.”

The defending Class 1A girls long jump champion, Highland's Emily Yahnke, wants to improve on last year's performance at Drake. She was 21st with a distance of 16 feet, 1.75 inches. The state meet is held at the same venue as the Drake Relays and she went 17-8.5 to claim first.

'My goal at the start of the year was to get to 18,” Yahnke said. 'I am not there yet, but there is still time.”

Washington's Ethan Hunt will be running in the Drake Relays for the first time when he races in the 400-meter hurdles.

'I will probably be nervous that day but once I get out there on the track, it will be time to go and I will be ready to run,” Hunt said. 'I just want to enjoy the experience.”

Hunt has the 16th best time (55.74 seconds) of the 16 qualifiers. The top time is 54.22.

'I'm going to try to not to get last,” Hunt said. If he does that, he has improved. 'That's exactly the way I am looking at it.”

He has just stuck to his regular routine of practice.

'I start with one hurdle every day,” Hunt said. 'Sometimes I will do 200 meters with the hurdles. I think the most important part of the 400 hurdles is the start. You have to get out fast and keep that momentum on the backstretch. Then it's important to keep it in gear on the homestretch. It gets pretty tiring at the end of the race but I just worry about my arms.”

Worrying about his arms will help his legs do the right thing.

'That is what Coach Roth has taught me,” Hunt said. 'If my arms are maintaining the right form, then my legs will do the work on the bottom.”

Yahnke had a meet Tuesday where she long jumped 16-6. It wasn't what she wanted but it didn't change how she felt she would do at Drake.

'My goal for Drake is that I just really want to get into the 17s,” she said. 'I have been kind of struggling with that this year. I have only got it once and that is when I qualified for Drake (17-2.5). I really want to get to at least what I did last year. I want to work up to that and then even go past it.”

She has had some additional help this season.

'Our superintendent has a daughter who was really good at long jump, so he knows a lot about it,” Yahnke said. 'He has been helping me. He really knows what he's doing.”

Part of that help is working on getting height in the jump, which helps the distance.

'That is really the only problem I am having,” Yahnke said. 'I typically long jump just once a week, so this week will be different since I had a meet (Tuesday). To work on height, we put put up a foam hurdle when we are practicing then practice jumping over that to help us get more height.”

Greiner just wants to be healthy and a hamstring can be a tricky injury.

'Luckily, it healed just in the nick of time, so I will be good to go,” Greiner said. 'I really feel like I am running at my fastest now.”

Although the injury set her back, it made her appreciate the mental part of track.

'Sitting and watching has been really hard, so I have been super motivated,” she said. 'I have been working hard at practice. I have only run at one meet since I have been back and it felt really good. We qualified earlier this season before the injury and the one meet I ran since I've been back was not our fastest time.”

An injury isn't just hard on the affected body part, it also affects one's mind.

'Mentally, it was really hard,” Greiner said. 'I didn't realize how much of an impact it had until I couldn't do what I wanted anymore. I was extremely mentally motivated after my injury. I think good things are are going to happen.”