Drake Relays 2023: 5 things to watch in the high school divisions

DES MOINES — The field will be fast. Ford Washburn will be fresh.

And in the jargon of the younger generation, the Drake Relays Boys’ Elite Mile is going to be lit.

Historic, perhaps.

A field of 11 boys will take to the Jim Duncan Track at Drake Stadium at 8:25 Friday night. It’s entirely possible — probable, perhaps, if conditions allow — that one or more could break the 4-minute barrier.

“We have a few individuals that are legitimate threats,” Drake Relays director Blake Boldon said.

Chief among them:

* Simeon Birnbaum of Rapid City (S.D.) Stevens High School, who already has run 3:58.

* Jackson Heidesch of West Des Moines Dowling, who has a 4:02.25 indoor mark under his belt this spring.

* Clay Shively of Wichita (Kan.) Trinity Academy (4:04.95), who has surpassed the legendary Jim Ryun as the fastest schoolboy in Kansas.

* Daniel Watcke of Hinsdale (Ill.) Central, who has eclipsed 1:50 in the 800 meters.

“There are a lot of fast guys,” said Washburn, a senior at Iowa City High and a commit of Northern Arizona University. “I want to be right in there; that’s the plan.”

Washburn ran the 1,600 in 4:10.91 at the Forwald-Coleman Relays last week, but that was only three hours after blazing through a 9:04.28 in the 3,200.

He’ll be rested Friday night.

“No doubt, I could have run 4:06 or 4:07 (at Forwald-Coleman) if I was fresh,” he said.

Boldon said there are “no plans” to make the Elite Miles “an annual tradition,” but “part of our role is to highlight potential historic achievements with Iowa kids.”

With Heidesch and Washburn, this applies.

“We wanted to create a vehicle in which Iowa high school boys and pursue the 4-minute mile, and this also creates an opportunity for Iowa girls to compete against some of the best in the Midwest,” Boldon said.

A mile is 1,609.34 meters.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how the tactics play out,” Boldon said. “I think the boys will be running more for time, chasing the 4-minute mark.

“The girls might be a more tactical race because there’s not an equivalent compelling number like 4:00.”

Five Iowans are in the girls’ field of nine. Adrienne Buettner-Cable of Des Moines Roosevelt has the fastest 1,500 effort this season of 4:36.30, which converts to 4:58.4 for a mile.

“I think we’ll have multiple athletes under 4:50,” Boldon said. “Maybe mid-4:40s.”

The remainder of the Iowa girls’ roster consists of Paityn Noe of Ballard, Addison Dorenkamp of West Des Moines Valley, Lydia Sommer of Pleasant Valley and Marley Turk of Ames.

Carson Lane of Johnston joins Heidesch and Washburn on the Iowa boys’ roster.

The girls’ race precedes boys’ competition, at 8:18 p.m. Friday.

Elite Mile competitors are not eligible to run in the normal high school 1,500/1,600 races Saturday.

The pursuit of the 4-minute mile tops our list of Five Things to Watch in the high school division of the Drake Relays. Here are four others:

2. A hurdles sweep for Gorsich?

Linn-Mar senior Nicholas Gorsich took a giant leap in the 400-meter hurdles at the Forwald-Coleman Relays last week, running away from the field down the home stretch and carving more than a second off his previous career best.

“I knew I could go so much faster if I had somebody pushing me,” he said.

Gorsich’s effort — 52.02 seconds — is No. 8 all-time in Iowa and establishes him as the favorite this weekend.

In fact, there’s a chance that Gorsich could pull off a hurdles sweep.

He has the state’s best time (14.38) in the 110-meter hurdles, just ahead of Ankeny’s Carter Accola, Cedar Rapids Xavier’s Grayson Hartman and Iowa Falls-Alden’s Jaden Damiano.

Linn-Mar’s shuttle hurdle unit of Nathan Leemhuis, Gorsich, Colton Waller and William Grant is seeded No. 1 at 58.67 seconds and will be challenged by Pleasant Valley and Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

3. An eye on Kennedy’s Swartzen-double

It has been 31 years since Cedar Rapids Kennedy earned a Drake girls’ title (Briana Benning won the 800 meters in 1992), but the Swartzendruber twins could end that drought.

Juniors Sidney and Addison Swartzendruber are ranked 1-2 in the 400 meters, with season bests of 56.33 and 57.01 seconds, respectively.

Sidney holds a slight lead in the 800 at 2:15.03, 5-hundredths of a second over Dubuque Hempstead’s Keelee Leitzen.

Both twins are slated to run in a pair of Kennedy’s contending relays. The Cougars have run 1:47.70 in the sprint medley, 3:59.10 in the 1,600-meter relay and are seeded No. 2 in both.

Jovie Veach and Emerson Swearinger are the likely middle runners in the 4x400, with Quren Hullon and Morgan Hospodarsky setting the table in the sprint medley.

4. Spartans pursue another flag

Gracie Federspiel was a member of Solon’s 1,600-meter relay unit last year, which earned the school’s first Drake title.

Three-fourths of that title team have moved on, but Federspiel (now a junior) is still around, and now she’s surrounded by Stahles in the girls’ sprint medley relay.

Aly Stahle, Mia Stahle, Sophia Stahle and Federspiel clocked 1:47.33 on April 8 at Davenport, and nobody has eclipsed that effort.

The Spartans figure to be pushed by Kennedy, among others.

5. Chasing the Relays Cup

Iowa City West and Iowa City High both are contenders for the boys’ Relays Cup, which is the compilation of four relays (4x100, 4x400, 4x800 and medley).

Johnston rates as a slight favorite. The Dragons are top seeded in the distance medley, top-three in two others.

West is seeded third in the 4x100 and the medley, fourth in the 4x800. City High is a heavy favorite in the 4x800, running 7:47.84.

Defending Class 4A state champion Waukee Northwest is the girls’ Relays Cup favorite. The Wolves are top-four seeds in three relays. West Des Moines Dowling and Ames are among the other girls’ contenders.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com