5 storylines to watch for the Iowa City area at the 2024 Drake Relays

As the Drake Relays begin Thursday, several high school athletes from each Iowa City area school will have the opportunity to etch their names into the history books on the Blue Oval.

Clear Creek Amana, Iowa City High, Iowa City Liberty, Iowa City West, Regina Catholic and Solon will be well represented in the high school competition, which runs from Thursday through Saturday.

Here’s the top five Iowa City area storylines to watch heading into the 114th Drake Relays.

Will the Iowa City West boys win their second-straight distance medley relay title?

Iowa City West boys took home the distance medley crown in 2023, and they’ll look to earn back-to-back titles this week.

Seniors Todd Rent, Izaiah Loveless, and Junior Moustafa Tiea will return while sophomore Julian Manson is the newest addition to the lineup.

The group earned gold at the 2023 Drake Relays with a time of 3:26.67. They enter the 2024 Drake Relays as the second-ranked team with a qualifying time of 3:32.62, behind 1-seed Ankeny (3:25.60).

Aside from Ankeny and the Trojans qualifying times, the other teams in the top five are separated by just under a second. Urbandale holds the third position (3:32.66), followed by Central DeWitt (3:32.67) then Norwalk (3:33.12).

The Trojans have the talent to compete for the top prize, and they’ll need to pull together a great performance to replicate last year’s success.

Other Iowa City area teams in the distance medley include 11th-ranked Solon (3:34.63), 16-ranked Liberty (3:34.90) and 21-ranked Clear Creek Amana (3:35.81).

Iowa City West is also ranked second in the 4x200 relays while Iowa City High has the sixth spot in the event.

How will Solon girls fare in the 800-meter sprint medley relay?

The Solon girls track team placed second in the 800-meter sprint medley at the 2023 Drake Relays with a time of 1:47.35.

The Spartans enter the 2024 Drake Relays ranked eighth, with a qualifying time of 1:49.40. Senior Mia Stahle and junior Aly Stahle will return while senior Mia Duckett and junior Kobi Lietz are recent additions to this year's Drake lineup.

The competition in the event is nothing short of elite, with Johnston (1:46.68), Waukee (1:46.80), Dowling Catholic (1:47.61), Waukee Northwest (1:47.93), Dallas Center-Grimes (1:48.17), Pleasant Valley (1:48.18) and Cedar Rapids Kennedy (1:49.02) as the top seven qualifiers in the event ahead of the Spartans.

Solon, the 2023 3A state champions, is ranked 18th in both the 4x100 and 4x200. They’re also ranked ninth in the 4x800 and 11th in the 4x400. Mia Stahle and Aly Stahle will compete in the 4x100 and 4x200 while Lietz is the lead-off runner for the 4x400.

Despite two new additions to this year’s 800-meter sprint medley squad, the Spartans have the talent to crack the top five in the event.

The 4x100 relays will be a battle

There are 96 teams total set to compete in both the girls and boys 4x100 relays.

Iowa City West boys, including Rent, Loveless, Manson and Mason Woods, lead the Iowa City area as the fourth-ranked team with a time of 42.34 among qualifiers. They placed second in 2023 with a time of 42.47, behind Cedar Rapids Washington.

The City High senior group of Phillip Kaplan, AJ Wright, Deon Brown and Miles Parlet are ranked 36th with a qualifying time of 43.67. CCA, which includes Brayden Frank, Tay Seals, Owen Rosenberg and Aren Schlemme is ranked 40th with a time of 43.75. Solon will be represented by Milo Ashbacker, Brayden Moore, Eli Kampman and Austin Knight.

Regina Catholic is ranked 57th with a qualifying time of 44.19. Their group consists of Jackson Naeve, Edwin Gangba, Alex Jensen and Michael Martin. Liberty boys rank eighth and they include Brayden Bell, Jackson Burnes, Brody Beaver and Brady Cannon. The Lightning had a qualifying time of 44.50.

On the girl's side, Solon is ranked 18th with a time of 50.16. The Spartans are led by Duckett, Aly Stahle, Mia Stahle and Piper Stahle. Iowa City West girls, including Natalie Steva, Miracle Stewart, Evelyn Cornish and Eriniah Carter, are ranked 49th with a qualifying time of 51.39.

Liberty girls rank 53rd with a qualifying time of 51.56. Their group consists of Haley Schroeder, Lilly McManus, Brynlee Slockett and Alexi Thigpen. Regina Catholic, ranked 69th, qualified with a time of 51.82. They'll be represented by Avery Kies, Reese Naeve, Alli Clark and Avery Recker. CCA girls, ranked 72nd, had a qualifying time of 51.88 with a group that includes Anna Johnson, Maycin Ernst, Kennedy Stratton and Elizabeth Timmerman.

The 4x100 girls prelims will kick off at 9:40 a.m. while the boys start at 10:12 a.m. on Saturday.

Will Solon’s Ben Kampman win the boys discus?

Solon senior Ben Kampan is the top Iowa City-area discus thrower competing at Drake.

The fourth-year Spartan is the 1-seed in the event at the Blue Oval. He enters this year’s Drake Relays with a personal best throw of 200 feet, 4 inches; an improvement from his 165 feet, 1 inch toss at the 2023 Drake Relays.

Kampman is no stranger to the big stage. He competed at last year's Class 3A state title football game and state boys track and field meet.

The Duke University commit will be making his second appearance at the Drake Relays, finishing in sixth place in the discus event as a junior last season. Kampman is also ranked 23rd in the boys shot put.

Which other Iowa City-area athlete will impress in individual events?

Individually, the field is stacked with great talent from the Iowa City area.

Iowa City West’s Aidan Jacobsen is ranked first in the 400-meter hurdles. He qualified with a personal best time of 52.52. Jacobsen will also compete boys long jump, seeded ninth in the event with a qualifying jump of 22 feet, 5.5 inches. Tiea, Jacobsen’s Iowa City West teammate, is ranked third in the 800 meters with a qualifying time of 1:54.34. He’s also ranked 17th in the 1600 meters.

Loveless, the fourth-year Trojan, is ranked fourth in the 100 meters with a time of 10.65.

Iowa State commit Gracie Federspiel is ranked 10th in the 400 meters with a qualifying time of 57.74. The fourth-year Spartan also qualified in the 800 meters with a time of 2:18.15. Solon teammate Mia Duckett is the 8-seed in the 100 meters with a qualifying time of 12.42. Liberty’s Aidan Decker is ranked 19th in the 1600 meters with a time of 4:20.32.

City High’s Rachel Haack is the only thrower from the Iowa City area that qualified for girls discus. The second-year Little Hawk is the sixth-ranked thrower with a qualifying toss of 138 feet, 2 inches.

Alexi Thigpen is ranked eighth in the girls long jump. She qualified with a leap of 17 feet, 8.5 inches. Schlemme, a CCA sophomore, is ranked 16th in the boys long jump with a qualifying jump of 22 feet, 1 inch.

Marc Ray is the high school sports reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. He can be reached at MARay@gannett.com, and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Five Iowa City area storylines to watch at the 2024 Drake Relays