Cedar Rapids Washington’s 1-2 push in the Drake Relays 100 highlights an area gold rush

DES MOINES — They’re competitors, for sure.

But more than anything, Miles Thompson and Michael Blank are comrades.

“It’s a blessing to have him,” Blank said. “This kid pushes me every day.”

Friday afternoon, Thompson left everybody behind.

A senior at Cedar Rapids Washington and a future football/track combo athlete at Texas Tech University, Thompson achieved Drake Relays glory.

In the boys’ 100-meter preliminaries, Thompson jetted to a Drake record in 10.37 seconds, a mark that ranks No. 2 all-time in Iowa.

A few hours later, he ran 10.54, which was enough to earn the boys’ 100 championship.

“I really wasn’t thinking about a record,” Thompson said. “For me, it was just a race to run fast.”

Blank was second, in 10.73 seconds.

“I have him to push me all the time,” Thompson said. “He makes me a lot better. Every meet, he’s a big competitor. But at the end of the day, he pushes me to make me better.”

With his speed, and his savvy.

“(Blank) is the technician,” Thompson said. “If I have a question, I go to him.”

Lisbon’s Baylor Speidel was third.

The Thompson-Blank 1-2 push highlighted a big day for area boys; four of Friday’s six track events were claimed by Corridor guys.

Cedar Rapids Xavier’s Grayson Hartman earned the 110-meter high hurdles. Iowa City High’s Ammon Smith ran to the 800-meter title. And Iowa City West’s crew of Todd Rent, Izaiah Loveless, Aidan Jacobsen and Moustafa Tiea struck gold in the distance medley relay.

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Hartman had a postrace moment by himself on the shady steps of the stadium tunnel.

A moment of meditation? No, just recovery.

“I was just tired,” he said.

Tired and triumphant.

A couple of hours after soaring into the top-10 on the all-time chart, Hartman followed with Xavier’s first Drake title in 14 years.

His effort: 14.10 seconds.

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“I’ve put in the work. To see it pay off is a really rewarding feeling,” he said. “In the prelims and in the finals, I didn’t get the best start. But after three hurdles, I could see in my peripheral vision that the guys next to me were just a little ahead of me.”

But not for long.

Hartman came into the prelims with an uneasy feeling -- “I couldn’t even feel my arms,” he said. “I didn’t feel any confidence at all.” -- but ran it in 14.05 seconds, moving to No. 8 all-time in Iowa.

Smith and City High teammate Truman Thompson nearly duplicated the Thompson-Blank 1-2 feat.

Thompson finished fourth.

“I owe (the 800 title) to Truman,” Smith said after holding off the field to win in 1:53.42. “If he hadn’t come up on me, I wouldn’t have done it. I wouldn’t have been able to kick like this.”

Friday’s race was Smith’s first at Drake Stadium after facing disqualification at last year’s state championships.

“It’s big to come back and win this race,” he said.

With nary a senior on its quartet, West won its first Drake distance medley title, in 3:26.67.

“I knew if we got the stick around, we were going to end up with these flags,” Jacobsen said. “I was really confident coming in.”

Jacobsen ran the 400-meter leg in 50.17 seconds, then Tiea anchored in 1:52.9.

“As soon as we got (Jacobsen) the baton, I knew we were going to win,” Loveless said. “To hold one of these (flags), it’s a great feeling.”

Tiea allowed himself a few peeks over his shoulder, usually considered a no-no.

“I was just looking to see where everybody was,” he said. “I was just running down (my internal) clock on how much further I had to go.”

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Iowa City High and Mount Vernon were second and fourth.

Linn-Mar’s T.J. Jackson earned his second runner-up finish of the weekend, leaping 22 feet in the long jump. Abu Sama of Southeast Polk was the winner at 23-6 1/4.

“It wasn’t the greatest, but it was better than expected. I can’t complain,” Jackson said. “I was ready to take it to the next level.”

West and Washington were second and third in the 800-meter relay. Johnston (1:27.29) edged the Trojans (1:27.41).

Top-seeded Elijah Morris of Washington (Iowa) was the runner-up in the 400 meters. He was clocked in 48.52 seconds, just behind Mount Ayr’s Ryce Reynolds (48.46).

Morris is nearly 100 percent again after dealing with hamstring issues through much of April.

“I think I’m back,” he said. “I still have to get back in shape. Honestly, I ran better than I expected. I don’t have all of my fitness back yet, and I kind of died at the end.”

Drake Relays: Friday boys results

Discus — 1. Duke Faley (Dubuque Wahlert), 187-5; 2. Trevor Veenstra (Pella Christian), 181-0; 3. Brandon Fischer (Pella), 180-4 1/4; 4. Lucas Morrison (Waukee Northwest), 178-1 1/2; 5. Spencer Kessel (Louisa-Muscatine), 173-7 1/4; 6. Ben Kampman (Solon), 165-1; 7. Hanson King (Pella), 163-5; 8. Adam Smith (Solon), 161-1.

Long jump — 1. Abu Sama (Southeast Polk), 23-6 1/4; 2. T.J. Jackson (Linn-Mar), 22-0; 3. Gabe Winterrowd (OABCIG), 21-7; 4. Carter Sievers (Newell-Fonda), 21-5 1/4; 5. (Isaac Jones), 21-3 3/4; 6. Jay Gatto (Anamosa), 21-3; 7. Ronnie Major (Iowa City High), 21-3; 8. Thomas Eschman (Central Lee), 21-1 3/4.

Distance medley relay — 1. Iowa City West (Rent, Loveless, Jacobsen, Tiea), 3:26.67; 2. Iowa City High, 3:27.65; 3. Johnston, 3:28.29; 4. Mount Vernon, 3:29.07; 5. Mediapolis, 3:29.84; 6. Pella, 3:30.23; 7. Norwalk, 3:30.26; 8. Waukee, 3:30.90.

110 hurdles — 1. Grayson Hartman (Cedar Rapids Xavier), 14.10; 2. Triston Miller (Columbus Community), 14.24; 3. Jaden Damiano (Iowa Falls-Alden), 14.33; 4. Will Davidson (Mount Pleasant), 14.52; 5. Nicholas Gorsich (Linn-Mar), 14.53; 6. Carter Toews (Spirit Lake), 14.65; 7. Beckett DeJean (OABCIG), 14.70; 8. Kasey Wirtjes (Denver), 15.19.

800 relay — 1. Johnston (Fox, Wilson, Anglo, Fox), 1:27.29; 2. Iowa City West, 1:27.41; 3. Cedar Rapids Washington, 1:27.97; 4. West Burlington, 1:28.40; 5. DeWitt Central, 1:28.50; 6. Western Dubuque, 1:28.89; 7. Pella, 1:29.39; 8. Cedar Rapids Prairie, 1:29.58.

800 — 1. Ammon Smith (Iowa City High), 1:53.42; 2. Chase Lauman (Pella), 1:53.83; 3. Gabe Nash (Sioux City North), 1:53.90; 4. Truman Thompson (Iowa City High), 1:53.95; 5. Tommy Tyynismaa (South Tama), 1:54.25; 6. Tommy Hensley (Urbandale), 1:54.68; 7. James Fingalsen (Mason City), 1:54.70; 8. Logan Rosas (Mediapolis), 1:55.68.

100 — 1. Miles Thompson (Cedar Rapids Washington), 10.54; 2. Michael Blank (Cedar Rapids Washington), 10.73; 3. Baylor Speidel (Lisbon), 10.92; 4. Tyler Sickerson (Ankeny), 10.94; 5. Logan Fairchild (Winterset), 10.95; 6. Jackson Belding (Ankeny), 10.96; 7. C.J. Shetterly (Pella), 11.03; 8. Izaiah Loveless (Iowa City West), 11.04.

400 — 1. Ryce Reynolds (Mount Ayr), 48.46; 2. Elijah Morris (Washington), 48.52; 3. Jashua Anglo (Johnston), 48.75; 4. Jackson Belding (Ankeny), 48.90; 5. James Fingalsen (Mason City), 49.08; 6. Zach Fall (Mount Vernon), 49.29; 7. Logan Fairchild (Winterset), 49.37; 8. Theo Moseman (Lawton-Bronson), 49.38.

Elite Mile — late

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com