Weather delays, medals, NCAA record holders and standout races for Trojans were all part of the Drake Relays held this past week into the weekend. Athletes from both West High track teams qualified to race at the relays, which has motivated many high school track athletes in Iowa.
Boys
The boys track and field team took a large contingent to Drake, securing several medals and a couple of flags. The distance medley started off the relays strong, defending their 2023 title with a time of 3:27.83. The team of Todd Rent ’24, Izaiah Loveless ’24, Aidan Jacobsen ’24 and Moustafa Tiea ’25 ran their best time of the year when it counted most.
Later that day, in a tight race, the 4×200 team of Rent, Juju Manson ’26, Jacobsen and Loveless secured a fourth-place finish with a time of 1:27.34.
On Saturday, the 4×100 team made it to the finals with a fifth-place finish in the prelims. Later that day, they would improve to a bronze medal finish with the team of Rent, Mason Woods ’25, Manson and Loveless in 41.86. The time broke the school record set in 2023 by three-hundredths of a second.
In the 400 hurdles, Jacobsen zoomed to a first-place finish with a time of 52.03. That time puts Jacobsen seven-hundredths of a second behind 2018 graduate Austin West’s school record.
Not wanting to miss out on school records, Tiea broke Daniel Gardarsson’s ’14 1600-meter record with a 14:14.02. Tiea placed sixth in a stacked field.
The boys will head to Western Dubuque to compete in the Mississippi Valley Conference (MVC) Championships on May 2 at 4:30 p.m.
Girls
It was all hurdles for the girls the past weekend. West qualified two in the 400 hurdles: Erinn Varga ’24 and newcomer Jaylin Herring ’26. They were both on the team that placed third in the shuttle hurdle relay as well.
The team of Varga, Herring, Eriniah Carter ’24 and Sophia Olivo ’25 ran a time of 1:04.87, improving on their season’s best by over a second. Olivo added to her résumé with a twelfth-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles.
The team will travel to Linn-Mar for the MVC Championships May 2 at 4:30 p.m.
