Miller becomes first athlete in meet history to win 100 and 400 in same year, Cortez edges 800 champion Erzen with meet-record 400; Duax repeats in 100, with Noble outlasting Kiefer in seven-round jumpoff in boys high jump final and Noring delivering in clutch to triumph in girls long jump

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor/Photos by Lily Dozier

DES MOINES, Iowa – From the fastest girls 400 meters in meet history, to a thrilling stretch run in the boys 800, to a clutch sixth-round leap and the longest high jump tiebreaker ever showcased at the event, fabulous finishes were frequent Friday at the 112th Drake Relays Presented by Xtream and Powered by Mediacom and Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

And senior Tyrese Miller of Ankeny doubled his pleasure with a memorable sweep of the 100-meter dash and 400 meters.

Miller edged Miles Thompson of Cedar Rapids Washington by a 10.88 to 10.95 margin in the 100 and then eclipsed the meet record in the 400 by clocking 47.91, lowering the 2019 performance of 47.94 achieved by Darien Porter from Bettendorf.

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Miller became the first athlete at any level in meet history to win both the 100 and 400 in the same year.

Gabby Cortez of Cedar Rapids Prairie held off Ainsley Erzen of Carlisle by a 56.15 to 56.18 in a thrilling conclusion to the girls 400.

Erzen, who repeated in the 800 in 2:09.39, was looking to sweep both events for the second year in a row, but despite her late surge in the 400, Cortez was able to prevail, as both athletes ran faster than Erzen’s victorious 56.28 effort last season.

Norwalk’s Claire Farrell took third in 56.38, along with placing second in the 100 in 12.58.

Newton’s Jackson Mace-Maynard returned following a fifth-place performance Thursday in the 3,200 to establish an aggressive pace from the outset of the 800, before surviving a late move by Riley Witt of Saint Ansgar to prevail by a 1:54.25 to 1:54.38 margin.

Jack Noble of North Polk and Jacob Kiefer of Cedar Falls both cleared 6-9 (2.05m) in the high jump, before extending the competition through seven rounds of a jumpoff. Noble outlasted Kiefer by clearing 6-8 (2.03m) to decide the tiebreaker.

Isabelle Noring trailed Holly Duax of Sioux City West entering the final round of the girls long jump, before the Carlisle junior responded with a leap of 18-1.50 (5.52m) to capture the title.

Duax, who repeated in the 100 in 12.42, placed second at 17-10.75 (5.45m). Duax became the first back-to-back winner in the 100 since Kerris Roberts of Waterloo East in 2016-17.

Mackenzie Carney repeated in the 100 hurdles, this time producing the victory in 14.43 for Waukee Northwest after securing the title last year for Waukee. Natalie Harris, her teammate at Waukee Northwest who also attended Waukee last season, placed second again in a personal-best 14.60.

Carney became the first female 100 hurdler since Mary Young of Urbandale in 2013-14 to achieve back-to-back Drake Relays victories.

Avery Winter and Morgan Engels joined Carney and Harris, as Waukee Northwest achieved the first relay victory in program history at the event by clocking 1:42.18 in the 4x200.

Southeast Polk repeated in the boys 4x200 in 1:28.43, despite only Titus Christiansen returning from last year’s lineup. Joe Zelenovich, Cole Filloon and long jump champion Abu Sama also contributed to the victory, helping Southeast Polk become the first program to achieve back-to-back victories since 2009-10.

Western Dubuque won the girls 800-meter sprint medley relay, relying on a reported 53.98 anchor split from Audrey Biermann to clock 1:46.01. Ava Ramier, Sammy Recker and Brynn Walters also contributed for Western Dubuque.

Sam Rew, Ronnie Major, Jovan Harris and Ammon Smith secured an eighth all-time victory in the boys 1,600-meter sprint medley relay for City High of Iowa City, clocking 3:28.70.

Jack Latham of Spirit Lake won the boys 110 hurdles in a meet-record 13.99 and took third in the 100 final in 10.99.

Austin Busch became the first boys shot put champion for South Hamilton with a fifth-round mark of 60-5.75 (18.43m), prevailing against state leader Brandon VanderSluis of LeMars who struggled with a 55-11.25 (17.04m) effort.

Kennedy Axmear, a sophomore at English Valleys, won the discus with a 131-6 (40.08m) performance.