Lots of Des Moines Victory Flags Waved at 104th Drake Relays

The Lincoln Rails ran one of the most exciting races of the Drake Relays, edging out Linn-Mar by three one-thousandths of a second in the 4×100 relay.

DMPS student-athletes were waving lots of victory flags at the 104th annual Drake Relays. Track and field athletes representing East, Lincoln, North and Roosevelt high schools qualified to compete in 18 different events this week at the 2013 Drake Relays.

The Roosevelt Roughriders (who wore ribbons on their uniforms in memory of the Boston Marathon bombing) proved once again to be a perennial powerhouse on Drake’s blue oval.

After winning a record seven titles last year, the Riders came back this year and picked up five victories: Jalynn Roberts-Lewis in the long jump, Agnes Sayeh in the 100m dash (teammate Roberts-Lewis was second), along with the 100m, 200m, and Sprint Medley relay teams.

The Roosevelt girls track and field team claimed five titles at the Drake Relays, including a Riders win in the 4×100 relay.

But perhaps the most exciting victory belonged to the Lincoln Rails, whose boys 4×100 relay edged out Linn-Mar by 0.003 of a second to claim the victory.

Other notable performances included Roosevelt’s Sydne Davis, who qualified for the finals in both the 110m (6th) and 400m (6th) hurdles; Lincoln’s Elijah Young, who qualified for the finals in the  110m hurdles (7th); and Alexa Hunt of Roosevelt, who finished 2nd in the shot put.

The following are post-race comments by some of the winning DMPS student-athletes, complements of the Drake University Athletic Department:

LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL, WINNER, BOY’S 4 X 100 METER RELAY: 42.776
Vybert Greene (SR), Mason Downing (SO), Jordan Bryson (JR), Jordan Cheatem (SR)

  • Vybert Greene: “It comes down to practice and doing those little things. We all push ourselves to see who can get there first.” 
  • Mason Downing: “He gave us a lead. To me I didn’t get off so hard and I had to switch hands on the hand-off and it seemed like it took seconds. They are quick and the Linn-Mar guy was coming so I knew Jordan had to get off quick.” 
  • Jordan Bryson: “It was all ‘Mr. Clutch’ (Cheatem). I just wanted to set it up so Jordan could take it in.”
  • Jordan Cheatem: “The guy (Linn-Mar’s Tim Wolfe) was right neck-and neck. I was looking at the scoreboard and saw our name first. It was a pretty good win because we knew we could do it. I never leaned so hard in my life. I knew it was going to be by a hair. Those Linn-Mar guys are quick. They are pretty young and going to be great in the future. We had to take this one for our confidence.”

DES MOINES ROOSEVELT, WINNER GIRLS 4X100 METER HIGH SCHOOL RELAY, 47.67
Teanna Lexis (SO), Briyana Carter (FR), Jalynn Roberts-Lewis (JR), and Agnes Sayeh (SR)

  • Agnes Sayeh, SR (On winning her fourth Relays title this weekend): “It feels great coming back from yesterday, and winning my fourth. I knew when I got the baton I would need to push to put my team in first.” (On what Roosevelt’s 24 flags at the 2013 Drake Relays): “I hope Roosevelt is proud of us because we work so hard for them everyday in practice, and we put forth the work and it shows in our performances.”
  • Briyana Carter, FR (On the orange ribbons the team has worn this week): “We wear them to support and remember the Boston Marathon bombing. We’ve also all worn orange shoe laces in our spikes this week too.”

AGNES SAYEH, SR, DES MOINES ROOSEVELT, WINNER, 100-METER DASH, 12.56

  • On the Drake Relays: “Last year, I didn’t even make the finals in this race, and now we won. It’s like hard work pays off, if you work hard, it’s going to pay off.”
  • On finishing one-two with teammate, Jalynn Roberts-Lewis: “I mean, like I said, Roberts-Lewis pushes me to my edge, so running with her is always an experience.”
  • On winning the race: “Well we were planning on leaving with one and two, but it feels great having the flag.”

DES MOINES ROOSEVELT, WINNER, SPRINT MEDLEY RELAY, 1:47.98
Tyanna Whitaker (FR), Briyana Carter (FR), Teanna Lewis (SO), and Agnes Sayeh (SR)

  • Whitaker: “Us two (Carter) are freshmen. There are college coaches here and they look at you more than when at other meets.”
  • Carter: “We’ve been running together since middle school so I wasn’t really nervous, but it is the Drake Relays.
  • Lewis: “I transferred here from (West Des Moines) Valley. They have accepted me.”
  • Sayeh: “We know there is a lot stiffer competition out there so you have to push yourself hard. So we said let’s run fast and get it. Finally, we have been working so hard in practice. To get this flag feels really good.”

For complete results and more information, visit www.drakerelays.org.

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