West Comes up Just Short in Drake Relays Long Jump Showdown With Brooks
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
DES MOINES – Austin West and Blair Brooks have crossed paths at enough track meets to forge a friendship.
The Iowa recruits just hadn’t matched up against each other enough to form a rivalry.
The first and only meeting between two of the top long jumpers in the state ended up being worth the wait.
Both Brooks and West came up with their best jumps late in Thursday’s Drake Relays long jump but it was Brooks that walked away from Des Moines Drake Stadium with a title.
Brooks uncorked his winning jump of 22-8 ¼ on his second to last attempt as the Marion senior secured his first Drake Relays title in his first ever meeting with West.
West saved his best for last, finishing runner-up after leaping 22-5 ½ on his final attempt but it wasn’t enough to catch Brooks.
“Early on I just wasn’t get good board placement and my landing was a little off and as I got more jumps I started to feel a little better,” West said. “I put my best one out there last and gave Blair a good run for his money but it was a just a little short.”
West owns the top mark in the state this season at 23-3 and Brooks is tied for the third best mark on the year at 22-11.
The two had seen each other at two previous meets this season, at the Hawkins Relays at Cedar Rapids Prairie and most recently at the Forwald/Coleman Relays in Iowa City last week.
They hadn’t gone head-to-head in the long jump in either.
That changed on Thursday in front of a Drake Relays crowd.
“I think this is our third meet, they were at Prairie and Forwald but we’ve never jumped against each other so it was fun to get out there,” West said. “He’s a great competitor.”
Brooks was tied with Cedar Rapids Kennedy senior Terrell Jordan Jr. with a jump of 22-3 until his winning leap on his fifth attempt.
West was sixth entering his final attempt when he nearly took the top spot from Brooks with his only jump of the day over 22 feet.
“I like the competition, if there is a jump out there better than mine I like my chances of going out and getting it,” West said. “It didn’t happen today but hopefully I’ll come back in three weeks with a better mark.”
The runner-up long jump finish starts a busy weekend for West who owns the top time in the 400 hurdles and will run on the West High 4×200 and 4×400 relay teams.
“It’s good to get into the Drake Relays mindset,” West said. “It stinks to come up a little short but hopefully we can right the ship the rest of the week.”
West wasn’t the only West High athlete to take advantage of their final attempt on Thursday.
Senior Jonathan Gannon placed fifth in the discus, moving up a spot with a toss of 168-0 on his final attempt.
The mark of 168-0 by Gannon is six inches off his career-best toss of 168-6 set early this month.
“I was pretty happy,” Gannon said. “I was six inches off my pr and it was on my last throw so I was able to work on some thin
gs throughout the competition and focus on a few things and correct them.”Dawson Ellingson of Hudson won the discus with a toss of 186-9 to give Hudson its first Drake Relays title in school history.
Nick Phelps of Kingsley-Pierson/Woodbury Central was second with a mark of 184-2.
It was the second consecutive top-eight finish for Gannon who was seventh last season.
“It’s a nice ring and the weather was really nice today,” Gannon said. “A lot of it is just getting a good first throw out there that is substantial to take the pressure off and that really helps to ease the nerves.
Drake Relays
At Drake Stadium in Des Moines
Thursday’s Individual Results
(Top 5 Finishers; Area Athletes)
Boys 3,200 – 1. Gable Sieperda (Central Lyon) 9:11.17; 2. Camden Cox (Ankeny Centennial) 9:21.77; 3. Matthew Carmody (West Des Moines Dowling) 9:24.72; 4. Myles Bach (Center Point-Urbana 9:24.91; 5. Konnor Sommer (Pleasant Valley) 9:27.5; 22. Kolby Greiner (West High) 10:08.91.
Girls 3,000 – 1. Ellie Friesen (Crestwood) 9:50.44; 2. Anna Hostetler (Mid-Prairie) 9:52.49; 3. Marie Hostetler (Mid-Prairie) 10:14.9; 4. Emma Lucas (Bedford) 10:17.2; 5. Bailey Nock (West High) 10:21.87; 6. Deniz Ince (West High) 10:24.47; 18. Camille Mac (Liberty High) 10:49.2.
Boys Discus – 1. Dawson Ellingson (Hudson) 186-9; 2. Nick Phelps (Kingsley-Pierson/Woodbury Central) 184-2; 3. Trajan Walhof (Sioux Center) 171-5; 4. Logan Jones (Council Bluffs Lewis Central) 168-10; 5. Jonathan Gannon (West High) 168-0; 24. Coal Flansburg (Solon) No Distance.
Girls Shot put – 1. Jamie Kofron (Tipton) 45-5 ½; 2. Kat Moody (Waukee) 45-0 ¾; 3. Brylie Zeisneiss (South Hardin) 44-10; 4. Chandler Haight (West High) 43-10 ¾; 5. Lea Grady (Davenport Central) 42-6 ¾.
Boys Long jump – 1. Blair Brooks (Marion) 22-8 ¼; 2. Austin West (West High) 22-5 ½; 3. Terrell Jordan Jr. (Cedar Rapids Kennedy) 22-3; 4. Keegan Rich (Mount Pleasant) 22-1 ¼; 5. Parker Kiewiet (Dike-New Hartford) 22-1.
