Saints enjoy Drake experience

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Drake Relays are one of the top track and field events in the country, where current Olympians, college athletes and high schoolers compete together.

This meet is held in Des Moines at Drake University's track, aka the Blue Oval.

This year the event was held April 24-26, with high school teams from all around the state competing in a variety of events.

Xavier sent its 400 girls' relay team consisting of sophomore Sydney Oakley, senior Allison Schwach, junior Taylor Skala and senior Molly Breitbach. The Saints did not place in a race that had top tier teams from around the state, but they did run a personal record.

'The most memorable thing about Drake was being able to get a personal record in our 4-by-100 relay,” Schwach said. 'Being able to watch some Olympians run was pretty cool, too.”

The girls' team has consistently been improving their times each meet in preparation for the state championships, which starts May 22.

'We are trying to get a lot of people in different events so that the most people have the opportunity to make it to the state meet,” Schwach said.

The boys' team also sent a 400 relay team made up of senior Chris Ball, sophomore Sean Murphy, senior Levi Miller (who subbed for sophomore Nick Stark) and senior Miles Sullivan. Stark also competed in the long jump and placed eighth.