Before the final event in the race for the coveted Drake Relay’s Hy-Vee Cup, the Hawkeyes were down 6 points to rival Iowa State.
In order to beat the Cyclones, the Hawkeyes needed to finish first or second in the 4×400 relays in order to win their second-straight cup.
Iowa was also coming off a rough 4×100 relays in which they suffered a false start. That put even more pressure on the Hawkeyes in the final race, but that didn’t bother the quartet one bit.
“When you have a guy like Mar’Yea Harris on your team, you feel pretty good about your chances,” Iowa Director of Track and Field Joey Woody said. “We put a little bit more pressure on ourselves, but that’s why we always have a good 4×400 at the end of the meet.”
Right out of the gate in the 4×4, Iowa and Ohio State separated themselves from the rest, almost guaranteeing Iowa the cup.
Then Chris Thompson handed the baton off to Harris, and he was able to blow past Ohio State’s Drelan Bramwell to garner first place and stamp Iowa’s victory.
“The Ohio State guy didn’t get out fast enough,” Harris said. “So I was like, ‘I think I can run past him now.’ Then the last 100, I heard the crowd start screaming, so I just ran as fast as possible, then we won.”
The exhilarating, high-intensity victory was surely a good feeling for Iowa, and it also served as preparation for the upcoming Big Ten Championships.
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“It says something really good,” Collin Hofacker said. “There’s lots of Big Ten teams here, and we took care of business, so that’s a good way to jump in.”
Winning the last relay was important not only because it won the Hy-Vee Cup for the Hawkeyes and served to prepare them for the Big Tens, but it also was a bit of redemption from a mediocre April 28.
In three of the five relays, Iowa finished in the top three but failed to reach the finish line first.
Other than the 4×400 relay, only one other Hawkeye got a white flag on April 28: Sommer Sharpe, who won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 59.73.
“It’s awesome,” she said. “I’ve never been to Drake Relays. So it was pretty awesome my first time here I’m able to get a white flag. I’ve heard a lot about it, but to actually be here is crazy.”
Drake certainly provides a surreal atmosphere, especially for track and field enthusiasts. It’s a unique meet composed of a passionate crowd that comes together to cheer on athletes at a wide variety of skill levels.
“It’s few and far between to get places like this,” Kevin Docherty said. “It’s kind of a small town, but they get a crowd out for this meet. Having a meet with the high school, college, pros coming in together, that’s kind of the Midwest way.”
Next, Iowa will head for the Big Ten Championships in Bloomington, Indiana. The meet will start on May 11 and continue through May 13.