Johnston's Jashua Anglo sacrifices time at prom for 4x400 relay at Drake Relays

Johnston junior Jashua Anglo had a goal at this year's Drake Relays.

"Get off the field and get my butt to prom."

Anglo, a 400-meter runner and 4x400 relay anchor for the Dragons, had his relay scheduled for 5:26 p.m. on Saturday. His prom pictures with his date Rubie Pohlman, daughter of Drake women's basketball coach Allison Pohlman, were scheduled for 6 p.m. That alone put together a tight window for his festivities, but to make matters worse, the weather didn't hand him any favors with another delay on Saturday evening from 4:14 p.m. to 7:05 p.m.

The big dance was coming up at 8 p.m. inside Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines. As a result, Anglo and his 4x400 team of senior Jack Wang and junior Noah Reese (both also going to the prom festivities) and sophomore Matthew Urness were faced with a decision. Dart to prom or miss out on the the chance for a white champions flag. For Anglo, that decision was easy.

"Gotta make the sacrifice for the flag," Anglo said.

He and his 4x400-relay team took the track for the final event and heat of the Drake Relays just after 8 p.m. as the sun set. Ultimately, the Dragons' 4x400 relay took sixth with a time of 3:20.56, just under four seconds away from taking the white flag.

Coming into the Relays with the eighth-fastest 400 time in the state, Anglo had aspirations of competing for a white champions flag. He took third in the 400 last year at the Relays and was one of the state's fastest freshmen two seasons ago, shattering freshman records in his path.

But on Friday he took sixth place in his 400-meter dash and relay, albeit two spots better than his standing coming into the 400-meter dash. But he was disappointed in his final 100 meters as he fell back from the pack. Anglo doesn't care about his previous records, just working on getting better.

"You can't dwell on the past," Anglo said. "I'm trying to move on and keep producing and breaking records."

That's been a tough ask for him in his junior season, battling with a groin injury suffered during football season that kept him from wrestling this winter. At one time, the injury flared up enough that he was unsure whether he would even be able to run track this spring.

Anglo has toughed it out this season, needing to do extra stretches and warm-ups to prevent aggravating his injury. His ability to compete through the pain comes from wrestling as a seventh-place finisher at 126 pounds in 2023, a sport he plans to get back into next winter when healthy again.

"It made me a lot more mentally tough," Anglo said. "That's some hard stuff. You think of things like finishing a 400, that's the kind of stuff that takes some guts. Even the workouts and practice, wrestling really taught me how to endure pain and keep going."

Considering he was powering through injuries up until this moment to try to get the white flag and prepare for a state title, missing some of that precious prom time for his team was more than worth it.

He hopes to continue helping out those around him going into the future, with dreams of going into corporate law and studying at Stanford University, then later sparking a political career in hopes of making the United States more "whole" and a welcoming community for all walks of life.

"Looking at the news and stuff like that, you see a lot of crazy stuff going on," Anglo said. "I wish I could be someone to make a change or have a say in this."

But before he can get to all that, he danced the remainder of the night away in downtown Des Moines for prom.

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: Johnston's Jashua Anglo races to prom following Drake Relays success