Drake Relays Day 1: MAC has three finish in top 10 of boys 3200 run

April 28, 2011

By Brian Rathjen of North Scott Senior High School


Day 1 of the annual Drake Relays in Des Moines is wrapping up, and the Mississippi Athletic Conference had a great first day on the boys side after three athletes finished in the top 10 of the 3,200-meter run.
Marshall Moyer of Burlington led the MAC attack with a third-place finish, with a time of 9:27.67. He was 18 seconds off the pace set by winner Kevin Lewis of Ottumwa.
Pleasant Valley's Tyler Meseke was sixth with a time of 9:29.65, while Ben Witt of Burlington was eighth with a finishing time of 9:35.36. Just missing out on the top 10 was Matt Butler of Bettendorf, who came in with a time of 9:37.30.
The MAC had three girls competing in the 3,000-meter run, with Anna Peer of Bettendorf coming in with a top 10 finish. She placed 10th with a time of 10:29.12. Maddie Reynolds of Pleasant Valley was 18th with a time of 10:50.62, while Kate Kaster of Clinton was 19th with a time of 10:53.60. Another area athlete who was invited to Drake, Northeast's Emily Franks, did not run due to injury; she is expected to be back in action next week.
In the field events:
* Girls' discus: Clinton's Kayla Hernandez, the area's lone competitor, finished seventh with a throw of 128-feet even.
* Girls' long jump: Columbus' Heaven Chandler was fourth with a leap of 17-feet-6 1/2. Among MAC competitors, Shalyn Greenhaw of Muscatine was 12th with a jump of 16-feet-5, Brena Peterson of Burlington came in 13th with a jump of 16-feet-3, Hanna Miller of Davenport Central was 15th with a leap of 16-feet-1 1/2, and Chloe Miller of Pleasant Valley was 16th with a jump of 15-feet-11 3/4.
* Boys' high jump: There were no local competitors, but an athlete in a local small-school conference -- the Big East Conference, comprised of schools to the north of the Quad Cities (mainly Clinton and Jackson counties) -- turned in a championship effort. Jordan Cress of Olin took top honors with a flight of 6-feet-8. Cress is trying to give Olin one last shot of glory, as the high school is closing at the end of the 2010-2011 school year. 
* Boys' shot put: Joe Carber of Central DeWitt had the event's seventh-best throw with a toss of 53-feet-8 3/4. The top MAC competitor was Isaac Ales of Muscatine, who had a throw of 52-feet-9 1/2. Also competing were James Denkman of Davenport West (16th, 49-feet-8), Tom McClimon of Central DeWitt (17th, 49-feet-7 1/2) and Grant Anderson of Bettendorf (49-feet-7).
Follow the results all week long on our QCA-TV website, or go to the Drake Relays website for immediate results.