Greene County High School sophomore Megan Durbin won the high school girls high jump title on Thursday afternoon at the 2016 Drake Relays inside Drake Stadium in Des Moines. Durbin, in her first Drake Relays, cleared the bar at 5′ 6″ for the win, then kept jumping and finished the day with a clearance of 5′ 8″. She becomes Greene County HS’s first Drake Relays champion and the first from a Jefferson-based program since Alison Drewry won the 100 meter dash in 1994.

Although Durbin won by four inches, the victory did not come easily. Opening height was 5′ 0″, which she cleared on the first attempt. She missed 5′ 2″ the first time, then cleared on the second attempt. She missed the first two tries at 5′ 4″, but the clearance on the third attempt put her in the final six jumpers and she was the last of the six to jump. All six girls missed 5′ 6″ every single attempt (17 straight misses) until Durbin’s third and final try, and the clearance brought her the victory. Had she missed, Durbin would not have won the tie-breaker due to the misses at lower heights, which a couple of the other jumpers did not have.

After she clinched the title, Durbin consulted with high jump coach Dean Lyons and head coach Kelly Simpson about where to put the bar. She went with 5′ 6-1/2″, which she cleared on the second attempt. Then it was 5′ 7″, which she cleared on the second attempt. She cleared 5′ 8″, also on the second try. She missed 5′ 9″ all three times, but had quality attempts.

Prior to Thursday, Durbin had a career best of 5′ 5″, which she set on April 19 at the Ram Relays. She topped her previous career best by three inches, set a new all-time program record by two inches, and won the Drake Relays title by four inches, all in the span of about 10 minutes.

Durbin is the lone Drake Relays qualifier this year for the Rams.