Feeling overlooked, the Waukee girls 800-meter sprint medley team puts stamp on Drake Relays

At the 2024 Drake Relays, the high school girls 800-meter sprint medley was always set to be a barnburner.

The top three times on the year coming into the annual event at the Blue Oval were separated by less than a second, with Johnston leading the way with a time of 1:46.80 at the 2024 Jim Duncan Invite just 13 days before the Relays.

In second on the year was a Waukee team made of freshman Lena Bruening, junior Gentry Williams, freshman Jana Maharry and senior Anjelena Carder. The group felt like they were being overlooked and seen around the track and field community as the "Old Waukee".

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Carder and Williams had heard about Bruening and Maharry's talents at the middle school level but were skeptical about just how good they possibly could be as freshman. After just one practice together, the upperclassmen watched those two stand out among the crowd. Suddenly, they felt confident in what their relay team could put together.

"'Guys... like, we're good," Carder said to them. "We can do it."

For the first time since 2016, the Warriors' 800-meter sprint medley team came together to qualify for the Drake Relays. However, they weren't content just to qualify. They wanted that white flag that Relays champions earn.

Not only did the Warriors come out with a statement victory, they did so nearly two seconds faster than the next closest team and earned the fastest time of the season (1:46.53) in the event. After feeling overlooked, the track and field community in Iowa was forced to take notice.

If you ask the freshmen, they'll thank the upperclassmen.

"Our upperclassmen just welcomed us from Day 1," Bruening said. "I couldn't ask for anything better."

Carder, a senior making her last go around as the second-fastest 400-runner in the state, has as much reason as anyone to take the credit as the anchor of the crew. However, she's grown close with the group and instantly credited the youngsters as much as anyone for their success.

"No other group I'd rather be with," Carder said.

Now the attention turns to the state track meet in just a couple of weeks. Despite the win today, the work must continue as they look to gap themselves further from Johnston, Dowling Catholic, Waukee Northwest and Dallas Center-Grimes, who still are right on their heels.

"(We got to) just keep working hard, every day," Bruening said.

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 2024 Drake Relays: Waukee girls win 800-meter sprint medley