Blake Boldon
The first month of the outdoor track and field season in Iowa has already yielded more than 130 Blue Standard performances to automatically qualify those athletes for the 113th Drake Relays presented by Xtream powered by Mediacom.
A total of 87 boys’ performances and relays are #BlueOvalBound thanks to achieving the Blue Oval standard, while 53 girls’ performances and relays have met the necessary mark to advance straight to Drake Stadium.
“We continue to be amazed at some of the historic performances Iowans are posting early this season and the excitement that achieving a Blue Standard creates in our sport,” said Blake Boldon, the Franklin P. Johnson Director of the Drake Relays. “Based on the number of athletes that have already qualified for the Drake Relays with impressive performances, we’re excited about what we expect to be another record-breaking year for many of them at Drake Stadium.”
The Blue Standards were set by the Drake Relays committee based on historical data from the top 25 percent of accepted entries from past Drake Relays. For teams and athletes that do not attain a Blue Standard, the fields will be filled through the same protocol used in previous years and outlined in the Iowa High School Entry Information Packet.
The boys’ field events have been making the most of early season competitions, with the high jump, long jump and shot put each having 10 or more Blue Standard performances. The shot put field is already shaping up to be another standout field, as 11 Iowans have already met the Blue Standard mark of 54 feet. Louisa-Muscatine’s Trevor Kessel leads the way so far with a throw of 62-2.50 that ranks 19th all-time in Iowa history. Ten boys long jumpers have also punched their ticket to the Drake Stadium runway by leaping 22 feet or better this season, with Southeast Polk’s Abu Sama, the state’s all-time leader in the event, having jumped 23-11.75 this season. In the high jump, 13 athletes have already cleared the Blue Standard of 6-6, with Iowa City High’s Matt Schaeckenbach’s clearance of 6-10.25 leading the way.
On the track, Iowa girls have already recorded historical performances. Three of the top 25 3,000-meter performances in Iowa history have already guaranteed three spots in the field to make a total of seven that have achieved the Blue Standard in the event. Ballard’s Paityn Noe leads that field with a 9:34.08 finish in the event that ranks third all-time in Iowa history, while West Des Moines Valley’s Addi Dorenkamp trails closely with a time of 9:38.21 that ranks fifth all-time. Des Moines Roosevelt’s Adrienne Buettner-Cable is the other athlete who has already made history with the 25th-best 3,000-meter time in Iowa history at 9:55.57.
Girls’ 4×100-meter relay teams have also taken advantage of the opportunity to qualify early, with nine teams running under the Blue Standard time of 51.00. Waukee Northwest leads those qualifiers at 49.38.
The boys’ 400 meters has produced nine Blue Standard qualifiers clocking in under 50.20, with Washington’s Elijah Morris posting the fastest time of 48.49. In relay events, eight teams have qualified in the 4×100-meter relay as West Burlington-Notre Dame’s leads the early field with a time of 42.81.