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Area athletes head to Drake

DES MOINES – Many of the state’s elite athletes will compete here over the next three days at the 107th annual Drake Relays.

High school field events begin this afternoon at 3 p.m. with the boys discus and girls high jump, while the running events start at 4:10 p.m. with the girls 3000.

Representing the Fort Dodge boys will be the 4×400 relay quartet of seniors Johnny Bice, Chase Carter, Keegan Myers and Sam Kolacia. That same Dodger foursome clocked a 3:28.24 here last year in the prelims. This time around, FDSH comes in 17th at 3:25.73. Cedar Falls (3:21.62) and Dike-New Hartford (3:21.85) are the favorites. The boys 4×400 prelims are set for Friday night at 8:51 p.m.

“We’re sitting 17th, but it’s so tight in that race,” said Fort Dodge head coach John McBride. “All four of our guys ran on (the 4×400) last year, so they’re not going to be nervous. They’re excited and pretty confident they can get into the finals.”

Participating for the Dodger girls will be the 4×100 relay crew of junior Shariah Smith, sophomore Shareece Smith, sophomore Raeya Love and junior Car’Maiya Mosley. FDSH enters tied for 79th with Indianola at 52.36.

Leading the way are Cedar Rapids Jefferson (48.72) and Des Moines East (49.12). The girls 4×100 prelims will take place Friday at 5:10 p.m.

Shariah Smith and Mosley helped the Dodgers to a seventh-place effort in the 4×100 at the 2014 Drake Relays, posting a time of 50.48 after previously setting a new school record of 49.64 in the prelims. Smith also took sixth in the 100 here as a freshman.

“We just want to get faster and move up,” Fort Dodge head coach Todd Constable said. “Our goal is to improve before heading into conference and districts. That experience Car’Maiya and Shariah have is huge.

“Shareece and Raeya are great athletes, but it’s definitely a different atmosphere down (at Drake Stadium) with thousands of fans screaming and hollering. It will be a good experience for them.”

South Central Calhoun’s Kody Case (100-meter dash), Manson Northwest Webster’s Jackson Johnson (high jump), Algona’s Ben Mawdsley (shot put) and Newell-Fonda’s Mason Scheidegger (shot put and discus) are each in the boys field.

Webster City, Algona and South Central Calhoun are also entered in the boys 4×100.

On the girls side, Webster City’s Cassidy Nerland (shot put and discus) and Allie Flaws (100-meter dash) and Pocahontas Area’s Kenzie Sullivan (discus) will all be in action. Nerland owns the state’s eighth best shot put throw this spring at 41-04, while Sullivan is sixth in the discus (137-02).

Both Webster City and Algona qualified in the girls 4×100.

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