Ames' Lauren Risdal and Gilbert's Emee Dani enjoy their first 3,000 run at Drake Relays
Marley Turk was proud of her proteges.
Turk ran with teammate Lauren Risdal and Gilbert freshman Emee Dani in the girls 3,000-meter run during the Distance Carnival at the Drake Relays on Thursday in Des Moines.
Turk, a junior, had run in the event at Drake before, and it showed.
After placing seventh in the 3,000 during last year's Relays, she came sixth in 10 minutes, 6.39 seconds this time. But this was the first experience at Drake in an open event for Risdal, and the first ever Relays event for Dani.
Risdal, Turk's junior classmate, placed 16th and Dani, a freshman at Gilbert, came in right behind her at 17th out of 22 qualifiers. They ran respective times of 10:26.62 and 10:27.33.
“I will admit I felt more pressure,” Risdal said. “But it was fun to run with Marley here for the first time and experience what’s like to run in a very competitive race with amazing competitors.”
Turk said the race showed that Risdal has upped her game this year.
“The one thing I can definitely tell that’s different that is just way amplified,” Turk said. “I’m seeing her go out there and having a super-strong kick. She’s just getting really confident.”
Turk knows Dani through her work as a volunteer running coach during the offseason. She was happy to see her former student on the Blue Oval with her on Thursday.
“We did a youth running club called Iowa Flyers,” Turk said. “I’m a volunteer coach. She’s been working hard for years, and it’s really cool to see her here.”
Dani was just happy to be running against the best competition in the state. She was thrilled to be part of a race where West Des Moines Valley's Addison Dorenkamp won with a new Relays record time of 9:23.69.
“I wasn’t used to running in this environment, so I was taking everything for granted that I got here," Dani said. "I just wanted to stick with the pack. It didn’t go as I wanted, but it felt really good to get here in the first place.”
She wants to use her Drake experience to build up for the state meet in a few weeks. Pella's Marissa Ferebee was second to Dorenkamp in 9:42.89, and she is who Dani will be aiming for at state in Class 3A.
“Stick with the main pack and fight through the pain,” Dani said. “I want to PR and maybe give Marissa a run for her money.”
Drumline is a hit
Just before the 3,000 began a drumline began playing up in the stands.
It was a big hit for the three Ames-area runners.
“It reminded me of our home cross country meets with our drumline,” Risdal said. “It was nice to hear that.”
Turk said it made her feel like she was on an adventure during the race.
“It almost felt like we were in (the movie) 'Jumanji',” Turk said. “It was fun though.”
Dani felt the same way.
“The drum section was my favorite,” Dani said. “It felt like I was out in the wild, fighting for my life. It was really good.”
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Ames-area girls enjoy running the 3,000 at the 114th Drake Relays
