Xavier’s Grayson Hartman moves into all-time top 10, then wins Drake Relays 110 hurdles

DES MOINES — Grayson Hartman had a moment by himself on the shady steps of the Drake Stadium tunnel Friday morning.

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 110-meter hurdles all-time chart, the senior followed with Cedar Rapids Xavier’s first Drake Relays title in 14 years.

His effort: 14.10 seconds.

“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.

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He 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.

That stamped him as the favorite in the finals, then he delivered again.

Iowa City West takes distance medley

With nary a senior on its quartet, Iowa City West won its first Drake distance medley relay championship.

Todd Rent, Izaiah Loveless, Aidan Jacobsen and Moustafa Tiea led through most of the race, and won it 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.”

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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 farther I had to go.”

Iowa City High’s Sam Rew, Ronnie Major, Jeremiah Madlock and Ayman Noreldaim were second in 3:37.65; Mount Vernon was fourth.

“I’m really happy with our race,” Noreldaim said after his 1:51.9 split moved him up in the pack.

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.”

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Friday’s Drake Relays live updates, results

Cedar Rapids Washington’s Miles Thompson set a Relays record in the 100 meters, running 10.37 seconds in the preliminaries. He will run in the finals at 2:28 Friday afternoon.

Teammate Michael Blank is seeded No. 2 in the 100.

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 p.m.

800 — 1:48 p.m.

100 — 2:28 p.m.

400 — 5:20 p.m.

Elite Mile — 8:25 p.m.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com