Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – Kitra Bell has spent the past three years climbing the ladder of the Drake Relays long jump.

The West High senior took another step up that ladder on Friday in her final Drake Relays appearance and this time Bell brought a friend along.

Bell improved her Drake Relays finish for the third consecutive season placing second with a leap of 17-11 ½ while Katie Severt was third just a half inch behind Bell.

“To have Katie finish third right behind me that was amazing, I was more excited for her than I was for myself,” Bell said. “I am super proud of her.

After failing to qualify for the Drake Relays long jump as a freshman Bell has continued a steady ascent towards the top spot the past three seasons.

She was 10th as a sophomore at Waterloo West in 2016 and placed fifth last season.

Bell climbed three more spots on Friday, placing behind only Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln junior Darby Thomas who won her second consecutive Drake title with a jump of 18-8 ½.

“Coming from my freshman year when I didn’t qualify and then getting 10th as a sophomore and fifth last year to get second this year is amazing and I still have state,” Bell said. “I’m going to be working hard for that for sure.”

It was a busy morning for Bell who ran the prelims of the 100 hurdles in the first event of the day shortly after 8 a.m.

Her time of 15.66 in the hurdle preliminary heat failed to send her to the finals but provided a warm up and some motivation for the long jump.

“After 100 hurdles obviously it wasn’t my best but what motivated me the most after that is that I still had long jump,” Bell said. “It kept me driven throughout the day to think I had long jump next.”

Bell was consistent on Friday with four jumps over 17-8 and came with two inches of her career-best mark of 18-1 while finishing second to Thomas.

“I was really happy,” Bell said. “Obviously th

e goal is to get first but second, I can hang with that.”Severt was just as impressive as her teammate.

The junior entered with the eighth-best mark in the state but had a career-best jump of 17-11 in her first attempt.  

In her first season as a full-time long jumper Severt announced herself as one of the best in the state on Friday.

“She just started long jump full-time this season, literally like five jumps she started practicing with me and then she gets third place today,” Bell said. “That’s amazing and she has worked hard too so I’m so happy for her.”

West High added a pair of top-10 finishes in the 800 as Bailey Nock placed sixth in 2:16.98 and Denize Ince was 10th in 2:17.5.

Sydney Milani of Southeast Polk won the 800 in a time of 2:11.35, edging Linn-Mar senior Payton Wensel who was second in 2:12.01.

“It was a good run, there are definitely things I can improve on but I think I did my strategy pretty well,” Nock said. “There are a few things I can tweak but it’s just a good learning experience for state.”

Drake Relays

At Drake Stadium in Des Moines

Friday’s Individual Results

(Top 5 Finishers; Area Athletes)

Discus – 1. Jamie Kofron (Tipton) 143-0; 2. Mackenzie Goeller (Wapsie Valley) 135-9; 3. Lea Grady (Davenport Central) 135-6; 4. Pauren Payne (Council Bluffs Lewis Central) 130-8; 5. Lydia Knapp (Panorama) 126-7; 16. Ainsley Schrock (Clear Creek Amana) 115-4; 23. Chandler Haight (West High) 104-3.

Long jump – 1. Darby Thomas (Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln) 18-8 ½; 2. Kitra Bell (West High) 17-11 ½; 3. Katie Severt (West High) 17-11; 4. Hannah Anderson (Washington) 17-10 ¼; 5. Angel Baylark (Burlington) 17-10 ¼; 23. Khaylor Fleck (Solon) 15-8

100 – 1. Carly King (Davenport Assumption) 11.99; 2. Ellie Masten (Benton Community) 12.2; 3. Darby Thomas (Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln) 12.24; 4. Keaton Kester (ADM) 12.28; 5. Elma Vojic (Waukee) 12.54; 25. Erin Kerkhoff (SOL) 13.02.

800 – 1. Sydney Milani (Southeast Polk) 2:11.35; 2. Payton Wensel (Linn-Mar) 2:12.01; 3. Lily Campbell (Waukee) 2:14.42; 4. Janette Schraft (East Mills) 2:15.5; 5. Anna Hostetler (Mid-Prairie) 2:15.99; 6. Bailey Nock (West High) 2:16.98; 10. Deniz Ince (West High) 2:17.5.

100 Hurdles – 1. Sydney Winger (Waukee) 14.19; 2. Grace Martensen (Benton Community) 14.82; 3. MiAsia Bergmann (Cedar Rapids Jefferson) 15.05; 4. Elayna Bahl (Western Dubuque) 15.3; 5. Autumn Barthelman (Sigourney) 15.26; 13. Kitra Bell (West High) 15.66; 15. Taylor Cannon (Liberty High) 15.73; 22. Caroline Schaeckenbach (City High) 15.95; 29. Peyton Steva (West High) 16.12

Sprint Medley Relay – 1. Linn-Mar 1:44.07; 2. Southeast Polk 1:45.25; 3. Waukee 1:46.51; 4. Burlington 1:49.43; 5. Ankeny Centennial 1:49.7; 22. Solon (Sophie Nicol, Molly Duckett, Taylor Ryan, Khaylor Fleck) 1:54.21

4×200 – 1. Dubuque Wahlert 1:42.03; 2. Waukee 1:43.96; 3. West Des Moines Dowling 1:44.06; 4. Davenport Assumption 1:44.44; 5. Pleasant Valley 1:44.62; 8. Solon (Taylor Ryan, Cayley Annis, Erin Kerkhoff, Abby Smith) 1:45.43; 13. City High (Emma Clark, CeCe Kelly-Harvey, Emma Cooper, Sydney DePrenger) 1:47.04