The Drake Relays in Des Moines are less than three weeks away and there are less than two weeks remaining for Iowa high school athletes to qualify for the prestigious event. Drake determines what high school events it will hold and how many competitors it will allow in each event. It also has established a performance benchmark known as the Blue Standard. When an athlete reaches or exceeds that time, height, or distance, they are an automatic Drake Relays qualifier.

Paton-Churdan sophomore Trevon Keely met the Blue Standard in the high jump last month indoors in Ames at Iowa State University when he cleared the bar at six feet, seven inches to win the Class 1A Indoor State Championship at a meet hosted by the Iowa Association of Track Coaches.

Greene County has no events that have met the Blue Standard, but the Rams have some Drake Relays possibilities. Senior Emma Ewalt opened the outdoor season on March 25 with a discus throw of 123′ 8″ and that was ranked thirteenth statewide as of Saturday morning on website Bound Iowa, the website used for reporting performances. Drake allows 24 entries in each high school field event.

Drake accepts 80 4 x 100 meter relays and the Rams have yet to put together their best quartet performances in that event. Senior discus thrower Isaac Carman’s best toss of 150′ 0″ sat at number 24 on Bound Iowa as of Saturday morning. High school performances submitted by midnight April 17 are considered for Drake Relays qualification.

On the collegiate level, Jefferson’s Carter Morton, a 2020 Greene County High School graduate, and fifth year athlete at the U. of Northern Iowa, has announced he plans competing “unattached” in the decathlon at the Drake Relays. Morton won the 10 event, two day competition in 2023 and missed all of last season due to ankle surgery. He recently finished fifth indoors in the seven event heptathlon at the NCAA Division I Championships, earning first team All-American honors.