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Lynx, Hawks combine to qualify 6 events, 12 competitors for Drake Relays

Busch seeded in top 5 in shot put, discus

South Hamilton senior Austin Busch (above) heads to the Drake Relays this week seeded second in the shot put and fourth in the discus. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

WEBSTER CITY — The month of April has been anything but easy on track and field teams, but 12 area athletes — five girls and seven boys — accomplished their goals by qualifying for the Drake Relays.

It’s the best of the best. No classes. And the winners take all.

Webster City and South Hamilton will compete in a combined six events on Thursday, Friday and Saturday inside and around Drake Stadium.

Throwers Austin Busch, a South Hamilton senior, and JJ Moore, a Webster City senior, qualified in both the shot put and discus.

Busch will be a contender in both. He ranks second in the state in the shot put with a top toss of 60 feet, 1⁄2 inch, and he’s consistently been of the best in the event this season. Only LeMars’ Brandon VanderSluis (63-5) has thrown farther.

Kelbe Krumm (left) and Kate Barkema (right) will both run at the Drake Relays this week as part of South Hamilton’s qualifying 4x100-meter relay. On Friday, they combined to win nine gold medals for the Hawks at the Belmond-Klemme Bronco Relays in Belmond. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

Moore could be right in the thick of the battle as well. He enters Friday morning’s shot put ranked fourth at 57-53⁄4.

Busch and Moore will both take part in the discus Thursday afternoon. Busch is seeded fourth (177-7) and Moore 23rd (153-11) after he jumped into the field on the final night of qualifying at Humboldt on Thursday. Both will be chasing heavy favorite Walker Whalen of Indianola, who owns a top-five all-time distance of 202-10.

South Hamilton’s Mackenzy Grady earned her spot in the girls’ discus field Friday morning with her school-record heave of 124-7, which is the 18th-best distance out of the 24 entrants.

Hawks’ senior Tanner Blue grabbed one of the 32 spots in the 110-meter high hurdles prelims, which are set for Friday morning. He’s seeded 20th with a time of 15.20 seconds.

The South Hamilton girls and WCHS boys will both compete in the 4×100 relay prelims Saturday morning.

The Hawks — Kate Barkema, Kelbe Krumm, Makena Galetich and Ashlyn Erickson — are seeded 51st out of 96 teams with a time of 52.03 seconds. The Lynx — Charlie Stansfield, Jaxon Cherry, Keegan Hisler and CJ Hisler — have a time of 44.57, which is 58th out of the 96 boys’ teams.

Drake Relays

April 27-30

Des Moines

Area Qualifiers

GIRLS

Discus (24 qualifiers, Friday at 9 a.m.) — Mackenzy Grady, South Hamilton (124-7, 18th).

4×100 Relay (96 qualifiers, Saturday at 9:15 a.m.) — South Hamilton (52.03, 51st) — Kate Barkema, Kelbe Krumm, Makena Galetich, Ashlyn Erickson.

BOYS

Shot Put (24 qualifiers, Friday at 9:30 a.m.) — Austin Busch, South Hamilton (60-01⁄2, 2nd) AND JJ Moore, Webster City (57-53⁄4, 4th).

Discus (24 qualifiers, Thursday at 4 p.m.) — Austin Busch, South Hamilton (177-7, 4th) AND JJ Moore, Webster City (153-11, 23rd).

110 High Hurdles (32 qualifiers, Friday at 8:15 a.m.) — Tanner Blue, South Hamilton (15.20, 20th).

4×100 Relay (96 qualifiers, Saturday at 9:45 a.m.) — Webster City (44.57, 58th) — Charlie Stansfield, Jaxon Cherry, Keegan Hisler, CJ Hisler.

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