West High’s track and field teams travelled to cross-town rival City High April 16 for their final chance to qualify for the 116th Drake Relays. After weeks of meet cancellations due to inclement weather, the meet was a last-ditch opportunity to qualify as many relays and individuals as possible. The Trojans took numerous podium performances, reaching seven blue standards — the qualifying marks for the Drake Relays.
Boys
The distance medley relay team was the first team from West to breach the blue standard at the meet, placing first with a time of 3:32.66. Kellen Craig ’26 and Neil James ’27 ran the 200m legs, while Nelson ran the 400m leg and Dara Olaleye ’27 anchored the 800m leg.
West’s hurdlers did well at the meet, with Waleed Ibrahim ’26 qualifying for the Drake Relays with a time of 14.49 in the 110m high hurdles. Later, Ely Smock ’27 placed second in the 400m hurdles with a time of 54.61. The school-record holding and Drake-qualifier shuttle hurdle relay team of Ryder Gorsh ’26, Ibrahim, Smock and Cade Towler ’27 placed in third with a time of 1:01.91.
Thrower James Barnett ’28 finished first in the shot put throw after he passed the blue standard with his throw of 57-06.75.
To conclude the annual Forwald Relays, the 4x400m relay had an unparalleled race; six of the eight competing teams achieved Blue Standards, taking the top Iowa 4A times of the season. The Trojans — with a quartet of Dara Olaleye ‘27, Aidan Nelson ‘27, Atari Brown ‘28 and Cael Dunham ‘28 — placed second with a time of 3:21.49, cementing their spot in the sphere of competition. At the Drake Relays, Nelson is looking forward to leaving it all on the track — not just for himself, but for his coaches.
“Going into Drake, I’ve just got to perform my best,” Nelson said. “My coaches have all pushed me and encouraged me to do the best I can, so I’ve got to give it my all.”
Nelson is looking forward to seeing what the team is going to do turning onto the homestretch of championship season.
“This is going to be a beautiful team coming through Drake and state,” Nelson said. “We just have to perform the best we can, and we’ll go far.”
Girls
Three Trojan relay teams punched their ticket to the Drake Relays at the Forwald Relays, with the spring medley relay team first to punch their ticket. The quartet composed of Myriam Rahmouni ’29, Savannah Graham ’28, Amara MacLagan ’28 and Savannah Mathias ’28 placed second with a time of 1:48.66, beating the blue standard time by 0.34 of a second.
Although not a Drake Relays event for girls track, West’s distance medley relay team of Jena Frank ’26, Beatrice Ahern ’28, Eva Willis ’26 and Kate Van Waning ’26 placed second with a time of 4:26.50. In the field events, MacLagan finished in second place during the long jump with a best jump of 17-03.50.
Later, MacLagan, Graham, Evy Cornish ’27 and Rahmouni finished in fourth in the 4x100m relay, sending them to Drake with a time of 50.48.
The meet ended with West’s success in the 4x400m relay, with the quartet of Ahern, Frank, Sophia Austen ’27 and Mathias finishing in third, sending them to the Drake Relays with a blue-standard time of 4:01.17.
Savannah Mathias ‘28, a Drake Relays qualifier in the 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay, believes the Trojans’ high-level performance and wide range of qualifications are a result of hard work outside the meets.
“In practice, we all like to push each other, and we know improvement starts with practice,” Mathias said. “We’re really tedious with handoffs and pushing everyone through hard workouts.”
Looking towards the Drake Relays, Mathias is excited to not only spend time with teammates but also improve going into the second half of the season.
“I’m really excited to run on the Blue Oval and spend a couple of days with my teammates,” Mathias said. “I want to keep improving on all of my splits and our relays to compete at state.”
Full results of the Forwald Relays can be found here. The Drake Relays will kick off April 22 and end April 25 in Des Moines, Iowa. A full schedule of events can be found here. Coverage of events will be available post-race on wsspaper.com.
