Absence made Holly Duax faster

DES MOINES — Absence made Iowa sprinter Holly Duax’s legs churn faster.

Three years removed from winning four state titles at Drake Stadium as a senior at Sioux City West, the Hawkeye junior raced to two Drake Relays title Saturday — helping her team win the Relays Cup for the first time since 2021.

“In high school, it was easy to kind of get caught up in my head and feel like I had so many expectations,” said Duax, who won the 100-meters and ran the first leg of Iowa’s winning sprint medley relay team. “If I won, it was cool. Everybody was expecting that, But if I lost, it would be this huge deal, so I had so much pressure to perform.”

Duax’s swift efforts on Saturday were accompanied by a sense of elation instead of anxiety. She clocked 10.98 seconds in the 100 while running into a stiff headwind, then helped the Hawkeyes finish in 3:44.12 in the sprint medley relay triumph — less than half a second ahead of Iowa State, which settled for second in that race and the women’s Cup standings.

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Iowa senior Alli Bookin-Nosbisch — an Ottumwa native — took the baton as the anchor in that race, and surged to the lead to earn her first Relays flag.

“We knew we were gonna do something special,” she said.

The Iowa State men entered Saturday’s events with a similar feeling. The Cyclones won their first men’s Relays Cup since 2001, essentially sealing the crown with a victory in the sprint medley relay.

“In high school, that’s always the dream,” said ISU’s Ty Koehnk, who like teammate Mikey McClain, is a native Iowan who clutched his first Relays flag. “But you come to the university level and you get another shot at it, so just to be able to follow through on something that mean’s so much you means a lot. Hopefully there’s more to come.”

The Iowa women edged Iowa State in the Cup standings, 36-33. The Cyclone men outpaced the Hawkeyes, 35-26, in their Cup race.

Iowa racked up six Relays wins on Saturday. The Hawkeyes swept the women’s 4 x 400 invitational and university division titles. Ryan Johnson won the championship flight in the men’s hammer throw. His last throw (233-5) was his best, but he’d already wrapped up the victory.

“I remembered how to throw the hammer,” Johnson said. “I kind forgot the first five throws.”

The Iowa men’s shuttle hurdle relay team won gold, as well.

“It was about the statement and putting on a show,” said Iowa’s anchor on that relay, Kai Graves-Blanks. “That’s what we came out here to do. Wanted to make it fun for the crowd, make it fun for everybody and have a little bit of fun (ourselves).”

Darius Kipyego of Iowa State certainly enjoyed being the anchor of that winning sprint medley relay team.

“I had no doubt I could outkick these guys,” he said.

He also took a tumble after crossing the finish line. Two days earlier, his brother, Devan, did a mock home run swing after anchoring a win.

So was the fall a celebration of sorts?

“That’s the thing,” Darius Kipyego joked. “You gotta change it up a little bit.”

Comments: robgray18@icould.com