Linn-Mar long jump duo leads area girls at Drake Relays on Friday

DES MOINES — Requisites for a good performance at the Drake Relays?

Plenty of rest. Nutrition. And for Petra Sherman, a healthy serving of Shakira.

“Before my (100-meter) hurdles (preliminary), Shakira came on and I started dancing,” Sherman said. “That’s what got me through the day.”

It carried through the high school girls’ long jump, in which Sherman and Linn-Mar teammate Abby Mecklenburg finished fourth and fifth.

For area girls’ contestants, that’s as good as it got Friday at a soggy Drake Stadium.

“The weather sucked, but everybody was in the same boat,” Mecklenburg said. “We had a little bit of everything ... cloudy, windy, rainy.”

Clear Lake’s Reese Brownlee won the event at 18 feet, 3 3/4 inches.

Sherman jumped 16-9 3/4, Mecklenburg 16-9.

The duo spoke together in the Bell Center during a 90-minute storm-induced delay.

“We love each other outside of competition,” Sherman said.

However, Mecklenburg said, “We don’t really talk to each other very much during the event.”

Pleasant Valley junior Ani Wedemeyer — formerly of Iowa City High — was the 800-meter champion, in 2:09.31.

“It’s an incredible experience,” she said. “I’ve come to enjoy the nerves.”

Wedemeyer transferred last winter.

English Valleys’ Kennedy Axmear earned her third top-five finish in the discus with a fourth-place effort of 136-7. Axmear was the 2022 champion, then finished fifth last year.

Waukee Northwest established a new Drake record in the 800-meter relay (1:40.46), eclipsing the old mark of 1:40.96 by Cedar Rapids Jefferson’s “Cheetah Girls” in 2015.

Waukee’s Anjelena Carder broke the 400-meter record, in 55.45 seconds.

Drake Relays: Friday girls’ results

Discus — 1. Charlee Morton (Hampton-Dumont/CAL), 141-2; 2. Reese Goodlet (Pleasant Valley), 140-9; 3. Ciara Heffron (Knoxville), 139-10; 4. Kennedy Axmear (English Valleys), 136-7; 5. Rachel Haack (Iowa City High), 135-7; 6. Anna Hadley (Pekin), 130-6; 7. Mariah Myers (Fort Dodge St. Edmond), 127-11; 8. Libby Dix (Mount Vernon), 127-3.

Long jump — 1. Reese Brownlee (Clear Lake), 18-3 3/4; 2. Jaida Bell (Johnston), 17-4 1/4; 3. Kiya James (Des Moines East), 17-0 1/4; 4. Petra Sherman (Linn-Mar), 16-9 3/4; 5. Abby Mecklenburg (Linn-Mar), 16-9; 6. Alexi Thigpen (Iowa City Liberty), 16-8 3/4; 7. Sophia Hatcher (Ames), 16-8 1/4; 8. Kambria Leazer (Ankeny Centennial), 16-7 1/4.

Sprint medley relay — 1. Waukee (Bruening, Williams, Maharry, Carder), 1:46.53; 2. Pleasant Valley, 1:48.27; 3. West Des Moines Dowling, 1:48.47; 4. Johnston, 1:48.95; 5. Pella Christian, 1:49.77; 6. Dubuque Wahlert, 1:50.16; 7. Bettendorf, 1:50.58; 8. MOC-Floyd Valley, 1:50.69.

100 hurdles — 1. Emma Havighurst (West Des Moines Valley), 14.67; 2. Josie McGraw (Indianola), 15.11; 3. Annie Smith (West Des Moines Dowling), 15.30; 4. Jana Maharry (Waukee), 15.50; 5. Sydney Skarich (North Scott), 15.60; 6. Paige Paup (Cedar Falls), 15.80; 7. Anna Woods (Ankeny Centennial), 16.21; 8. Leah Bolluyt (Spirit Lake), 16.54.

800 relay — 1. Waukee Northwest (Robinson, Caldwell, Stahl, Winter), 1:40.46 (Drake record); 2. West Des Moines Dowling, 1:43.46; 3. MOC-Floyd Valley, 1:43.66; 4. Sioux City East, 1:43.87; 5. Dubuque Wahlert, 1:43.89; 6. Johnston, 1:44.05; 7. Bettendorf, 1:44.21; 8. Cedar Rapids Prairie, 1:44.50.

800 — 1. Ani Wedemeyer (Pleasant Valley), 2:09.31; 2. Keelee Leitzen (Dubuque Hempstead), 2:09.74; 3. Kadence Huck (Nashua-Plainfield), 2:11.09; 4. Grace Boleyn (Pleasant Valley), 2:11.89; 5. Marie Dea (Carroll), 2:12.58; 6. Sarah Feddersen (Gilbert), 2:12.90; 7. Julia Gehl (Dubuque Hempstead), 2:15.33; 8. Clare Wright (Jesup), 2:15.92.

100 — 1. Tierney Huss (MOC-Floyd Valley), 12.10; 2. Jaidyn Sellers (Panorama), 12.10; 3. Elliana Harris (Sioux City East), 12.16; 4. Kanijah Angel (Clinton), 12.20; 5. Alayna Goldsberry (Southeast Polk), 12.29; 6. Rachel Kacmarynski (Pella Christian), 12.36; 7. Asia Russell (Cedar Rapids Prairie), 12.38; 8. Kaleigh Tooker (MOC-Floyd Valley), 12.40.

400 — 1. Anjelena Carder (Waukee), 55.45 (Drake record); 2. Reese Brownlee (Clear Lake), 55.93; 3. Kadence Huck (Nashua-Plainfield), 56.19; 4. Kloe Nissen (Don Bosco), 56.47; 5. Rylee Steffen (Dubuque Wahlert), 56.57; 6. Maya Williams (Bettendorf), 56.91; 7. Jaidyn Sellers (Panorama), 57.37; 8. Lauren McCoy (West Des Moines Dowling), 57.39.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com