Drake Relays girls’ roundup: Liberty’s Ashlyn Keeney hits overdrive late, wins 1,500

DES MOINES — By all appearances with a lap to go, Ashlyn Keeney was fading. And perhaps, finished.

Turns out, she was just getting started.

Keeney found a second wind, an overdrive, and blistered to a 67-second final lap to capture the Drake Relays girls’ 1,500-meter championship Thursday afternoon at Drake Stadium.

The junior from Iowa City Liberty overtook Ballard’s Shewaye Johnson in the final curve, and won going away in 4 minutes, 39.24 seconds.

“With a lap left, I noticed (Johnson) was getting closer to (the pack),” said Keeney, who won her second Drake title (she was the 3,000-meter champ in 2019). “I didn’t know if I could catch her, but I was going to try.

“I figured, if I die, I die. Thankfully, I didn’t.”

Best of Drake Relays: The girls

Miracle Ailes, Keokuk: Won the high jump and was third in the long jump.

Mackenzie Carney, Waukee: Swept the three hurdles events, winning the 100- and 400-meter hurdles and anchoring the Warriors’ shuttle hurdle.

Ainsley Erzen, Carlisle: Champion of the 400- and 800-meter races.

Shewaye Johnson, Ballard: Won the 3,000 meters and was second in the 1,500.

Cameron Moon and Morgan Engels, Ames: Participated on three winning relays for the Little Cyclones, the 4x200, 4x400 and sprint medley.

Keeney ran second to Johnson for the first half of the race, then was overtaken by one runner, then another.

With a lap to go, she was in fifth, well behind Johnson and heading in the wrong direction in the standings. Then she found her kick.

“I tried to stick with the pack around me, but I got boxed in,” she said. “I tried to get outside so I could get back in the race, then I was going to stay there.”

Keeney figured to be a contender in the 3,000, too, but “I’ve been having some shin pain, so I thought the best I could do was two races (she also anchored the sprint medley relay), and I’m glad I did.

“I can’t believe I won. They handed me the flag, and thought, ’What?’”

» Photo gallery from The Gazette’s Liz Martin

Keeney was the lone area girls’ winner. Western Dubuque’s Audrey Biermann was the 400-meter runner-up, her 56.99-second effort was second to Carlisle’s Ainsley Erzen (56.28).

"On the backstretch I paced myself and tried to stay close to (Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Gabby) Cortez,“ Biermann said. ”When there was 100 left, I kicked as hard as I could.“

North Cedar’s Kelly Proesch more than held her own against Waukee’s powerhouse hurdlers.

Proesch was third in the 100-meter hurdles (15.12 seconds) and fourth in the 400 hurdles (1:05.14). Waukee’s Mackenzie Carney won both races.

“I’m so excited; this was so cool,” Proesch said. “Those Waukee girls, I respect them so much, and it was definitely good for me to go up against them and see how I measured up.”

Only one girls’ race was held between the two open hurdles races.

“I didn’t even warm up the second time,” Proesch said. “When I do that, it just wears me down. I just rehydrated, and I was ready to go again.”

Solon’s Emma Bock was third in the 800, in 2:15.99.

"I was trying to follow the girls that run in the 2:17s, then see how I felt at the end,“ Bock said.

Cortez was fifth in the 400 and anchored Prairie to third place in the sprint medley relay, fifth in the 3,200-meter relay.

DRAKE RELAYS

At Des Moines

GIRLS RESULTS

Hy-Vee Cup leaders — 1. Ames 20, 2. Southeast Polk 18, 3. Waukee 16, 4. Davenport Assumption 9, 5. (tie) Cedar Rapids Prairie, Johnston, Dubuque Wahlert and Ankeny 8.

High jump — 1. Miracle Ailes (Keokuk), 5-7 3/4; 2. (tie) Maddie Olson (Sheldon) and Layanna Green (Waukee), 5-5 3/4; 7. Hailey Carolan (Alburnett), 5-3 3/4.

Discus — 1. Sophia Dykstra (Oskaloosa), 140-1; 2. Myah Brinker (Cedar Falls), 130-10; 3. Kendal Clark (Humboldt), 128-9; 7. Ava Conrad (Solon), 121-11.

Shot put — 1. Jadan Brumbaugh (Mount Pleasant), 43-3; 2. Kelsey Fields (Creston), 41-5; 3. Faith DeRonde (Oskaloosa), 40-1 1/2; 7. Annika Headington (Waukon) 37-11 1/2; 8. Phoebe Burt (Iowa City West), 37-9 1/2.

Long jump — 1. Shay Sinnard (Carroll), 18-0 1/4; 2. Kylee Sallee (Hudson), 17-6 3/4; 3. Miracle Ailes (Keokuk), 17-5 1/4; 4. Macy Daufeldt (West Liberty), 17-5 1/4.

Sprint medley relay — 1. Ames (Deardorff, Buss, Engels, Moon), 1:48.92; 2. Dubuque Wahlert, 1:49.09; 3. Cedar Rapids Prairie, 1:49.23; 5. Western Dubuque, 1:50.32.

3,000 — 1. Shewaye Johnson (Ballard), 9:46.88; 2. Lauren McMahon (Ankeny), 9:59.15; 3. Lauren Schulze (West Des Moines Valley), 10:01.00; 7. Danielle Hostetler (Mid-Prairie), 10:15.96; 8. Micah Poellet (Linn-Mar), 10:16.62.

3,200 relay — 1. Southeast Polk (Larkins, Hartz, Plummer, Francois), 9:19.90; 2. Johnston, 9:27.50; 3. Waukee, 9:30.91; 5. Cedar Rapids Prairie, 9:35.96; 7. Iowa City Liberty, 9:39.76.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Waukee (Winger, Weers, Harris, Carney), 1:01.21; 2. West Des Moines Dowling, 1:04.56; 3. Cedar Falls, 1:06.51; 4. Clear Creek Amana, 1:07.61; 6. Cascade, 1:08.32; 8. Iowa City High, 1:08.49.

100 — 1. Holly Duax (Sioux City West), 12.34; 2. Jessica Kyne (Des Moines Hoover), 12.46; 3. Claire Farrell (Norwalk), 12.55; 7. Audrey Biermann (Western Dubuque), 12.79; 8. JoJo Tyynismaa (South Tama), 12.92.

400 — 1. Ainsley Erzen (Carlisle), 56.28; 2. Audrey Biermann (Western Dubuque), 56.99; 3. Claire Farrell (Norwalk), 57.16; 4. Mitzi Evans (Mid-Prairie), 57.54; 5. Gabby Cortez (Cedar Rapids Prairie), 57.63.

800 relay — 1. Ames (Moon, Jones, Lynch, Engels), 1:42.36; 2. Waukee, 1:43.61; 3. Dubuque Wahlert, 1:43.95; 6. Williamsburg, 1:45.87.

100 hurdles — 1. Mackenzie Carney (Waukee), 14.69; 2. Natalie Harris (Waukee), 15.03; 3. Kelly Proesch (North Cedar), 15.12.

800 — 1. Ainsley Erzen (Carlisle), 2:13.73; 2. Kathryn Vortherms (Ankeny Centennial), 2:15.50; 3. Emma Bock (Solon), 2:15.99; 7. Kaia Holtkamp (Solon), 2:19.67; 8. Sidney Swartzendruber (Cedar Rapids Kennedy), 2:20.28.

400 hurdles — 1. Mackenzie Carney (Waukee), 1:04.39; 2. Darci Wiseman (Winterset), 1:04.49; 3. Emily Wood (Pleasant Valley), 1:04.79; 4. Kelly Proesch (North Cedar), 1:05.14; 8. JoJo Tyynismaa (South Tama), 1:06.25.

1,500 — 1. Ashlyn Keeney (Iowa City Liberty), 4:39.24; 2. Shewaye Johnson (Ballard), 4:44.97; 3. Lauren Schulze (West Des Moines Valley), 4:45.51.

400 relay — 1. Waukee (Karunatilaka, Winger, Perry, Harris), 48.59; 2. Ankeny, 48.90; 3. Madrid, 49.38.

1,600 relay — 1. Ames (Jones, Lynch, Engels, Moon), 3:59.46; 2. Southeast Polk, 4:02.69; 3. Davenport Assumption, 4:03.74; 4. Iowa City High, 4:03.80; 5. Williamsburg, 4:05.25.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com