Drake Relays 2024: Four takeaways about Iowa high school track and field athletes

Record-shattering performances, standout seniors and no shortage of surprises.

That was the story of the Drake Relays – impacted by severe weather delays on both Friday and Saturday – for Iowa high school athletes.

But those same high schoolers forged ahead, changing prom plans and running races with limited to no warmups in hopes of taking how a Relays title.

Now, the focus shifts to the Iowa high school state track and field meet.

Technically, teams and athletes still need to qualify for state through meets scheduled for Thursday, May 9. But based on last weekend’s performances, some athletes should be a shoo-in for the state meet.

Here are four things to consider after Drake Relays and ahead of the Iowa state track and field meet.

There is no slowing down Valley’s Addison Dorenkamp

The Tigers’ senior distance runner didn’t even look like she broke a sweat as she claimed the white flag in both the 3,000-meter and 1,500-meter runs. Dorenkamp entered the weekend without a win at the Drake Relays and left after becoming the fifth high school girl ever to sweep the distance events.

Oh, and she crushed some records in the process.

More: Valley's Addison Dorenkamp sweeps distance events at Drake Relays, fifth girl to do so

Dorenkamp finished the 3,000-meter run in 9 minutes, 23.69 seconds. That time set not only a Drake Relays record but an all-time Iowa record, as well. Her time on Thursday was nearly 20 seconds faster than the rest of the field, truly putting Dorenkamp in a league of her own this season.

After helping Valley to a fourth-place finish in the 4x800-meter relay, Dorenkamp spent much of the time in between that race and the 1,500 thinking the latter event wouldn’t happen. But after a three-hour severe weather delay, Dorenkamp took the track with just 30 minutes to warm up.

Once again, the Valley star separated herself from the crowd.

Dorenkamp finished the 1,500 in 4 minutes, 26.93 seconds – another Relays record. That time was six-tenths of a second slower than the all-time best record in Iowa. So, it’s safe to assume that Dorenkamp will have her mind on that heading into the state track meet.

Is Panda Express the secret to ADM’s success?

Speaking of success after the severe weather delay, the ADM boys relay team for the 4x100 put together an impressive performance on Saturday night. Their fastest time this season came not too long after enjoying some orange chicken from Panda Express.

The sprinter squad of Aiden Flora, Tyler Gelhaar, Zach Lohmann and Brevin Doll fueled up on fast food, American Chinese cuisine, hurried back to Drake Stadium when it was announced the meet was restarting, grabbed their spikes and took to the track.

More: Football, friendship and faith: A look at Brevin Doll and Aiden Flora's drive to succeed

ADM finished first in the finals – after running a second-best 41.79 seconds in the prelims. Their finals time of 41.38 seconds is the fastest in the state this season…and the second-best time all-time in Iowa.

Ankeny’s relay team was the favorite to win entering the Relays and let’s be real, the Hawks are very much still capable of winning that event at the state meet in a couple weeks. But the Tigers won’t go down without a fight.

ADM's new pre-race routine might be unconventional, but it worked once. Maybe it could work again.

Keep an eye on Waukee’s Anjelena Carder

The Warriors’ senior entered the Relays as another top athlete competing in several events. She left after claiming two white flags and making her name known.

Carder edged out Clear Lake’s Reese Brownlee – the favorite to win the 400-meter dash. She won the Relays title with a time of 55.45 seconds, the current best in the state this season.

Her second win came with Waukee’s 800 sprint medley relay team. The Warriors beat out the other competitors by running the event in 1 minute, 46.53 seconds.

Carder didn’t take home any more titles, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t help Waukee into the top 10 in other events. She anchored both the 4x400 and 4x100 relays, with the Warriors finishing second in the former and sixth in the latter.

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

Those performances helped Waukee to a second-place finish in the team race, seven points behind Pleasant Valley – which won both the 4x400 and 4x800 and finished second in the sprint medley.

Ankeny boys track will be a tough team to beat

Ankeny won the team title after finishing first in the 4x800-meter relay, second in the distance medley relay and fourth in the 4x100.

But anyone who’s seen the 4x100 squad of Caden Henkes, Logan Fairchild, Devon Akers and Jackson Belding knows they can pull off more than a fourth-place finish on the Blue Oval.

More: Ankeny boys 4x200 relay team sets Iowa record, is hungry for more at Drake Relays

The severe weather delay definitely presented some 'What-if?'-type questions.

The state track and field meet could be the answer to whether Ankeny – as a whole – is the top boys team in Iowa this year.

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Drake Relays 2024: What we learned about Iowa high school track stars