Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Mariah Myers of St. Edmond competes earlier this season in the discus. Myers is a 2025 Drake Relays qualifier in two field events.

DES MOINES — St. Edmond track and field standouts Mariah Myers and Anna Lursen are headed to the Drake Relays this week with their sights set on leaving their mark.

Myers and Lursen will each compete in two events inside Drake Stadium beginning on Thursday. Action runs through Saturday night, with former Olympians, college standouts and the best of the best from Iowa high schools taking part in the 115th edition of America’s Athletic Classic.

A senior who is headed to the University of Iowa in the fall to play softball, Myers qualified in both the shot put and discus. Lursen, a junior, will be competing in the 400-meter run and 400-meter hurdles.

“It’s very exciting to be able to have these two athletes represent our school at an event as prestigious as the Drake Relays,” SEHS head coach CJ Tracy said. “For them to reach a level among the top high school athletes in the state of Iowa is huge. Not only that, but three of the four events they will compete in achieved the Blue Standard (automatic qualifying).”

Joining those two will be several area athletes from Algona, Clarion-Goldfield/Dows, Emmetsburg, Humboldt, Manson Northwest Webster, Newell-Fonda, Pocahontas Area, Webster City and West Bend-Mallard.

Last year, Myers placed seventh in the discus with a throw of 127-11. This spring, she has a best of 136-6 from a meet last week. She had a record-tossing throw of 41-9 in the discus in Eagle Grove earlier this month.

Charlee Morton of Hampton-Dumont/CAL is the reigning discus and shot put winner. Delilah Subsin of Ottumwa has the best discus throw this year while Burlington’s Kylee Hill is the shot put leader.

“Mariah was able to compete last year and gain valuable experience,” Tracy said. “She’s back and adding the shot put this year.”

Lursen currently sits third in the entire state in the 400-meter run, clocking a time of 56.97 that broke the school record in Jefferson this month. Reese Brownlee of Clear Lake, who is a former event winner and has signed with Kansas State University, is tops in the field, followed by Johnston’s Olivia Fehn.

Brownlee has gone 56.86. Fehn had a qualifying a time of 56.94.

In the 400 hurdles, Lursen got in with a time of 1:06.20, which ranks 18th in the state. She also hit that record in Jefferson.

“We are excited for Anna to reach this milestone,” Tracy said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun, and it will give them a great experience.”

Brownlee is the state-leader in the hurdles as well, going 1:01.26.

Manson Northwest Webster’s Matt Condon has qualified in both the high jump and long jump. Condon’s teammate, Alyssa Richman, will run in the 3,000.

Condon is tied for eighth in the high jump, having cleared 6-6 to qualify. Richman ranks eighth in her event with a time of 10:13.56.

Earlier this week, Condon went 6-7.25 to break the school record.

Humboldt qualified Tyler Carlson in the high jump and Elliot Carlson in the long jump to go along with the 4×100-meter relay. Cash McIntire, Chase Flaherty, Elliot Carlson and Mason Van Pelt are expected to compete.

Algona will have three relays, William Weichert in the 100-meter dash and Max Nevitt in the shot put. Jayden Weinzetl of Webster City joins Weichert in the 100.

Weichert, Tate Garman, Tyler Bradley and Evan Allie own the fifth-fastest 4×200 time at 1:28.35. Weichert, Garman, Levi Walker and Allie are 12th in the 4×100 at 42.80.

The girls high jump will feature four area athletes in MaKayla Beisel of Clarion-Goldfield/Dows, Lindsey Wolf from Newell-Fonda, Rachel Schany of Emmetsburg and Allison Fehr from West Bend-Mallard. Schany, a defending state champion, also qualified in the long jump.

Schany is currently tied for second in the state having cleared 5-7. Reese Wagner of North Polk is first at 5-8.25.

Wagner is the daughter of MNW graduate Raegan (Schultz) Wagner.

DRAKE RELAYS

(Area qualifiers only)

Boys

Algona — William Weichert, 100-meter dash; 4×100-meter relay (William Weichert, Tate Garman, Levi Walker, Evan Allie); 4×200-meter relay (William Weichert, Tate Garman, Tyler Bradley, Evan Allie); sprint medley relay (Tate Garman, Tyler Bradley, Evan Allie, Gavin Weber); Max Nevitt, shot put.

Humboldt — Tyler Carlson, high jump; Elliot Carlson, long jump; 4×100-meter relay (Cash McIntire, Chase Flaherty, Elliot Carlson, Mason Van Pelt).

Manson Northwest Webster — Matt Condon, high jump, long jump.

Webster City — Jayden Weinzetl, 100-meter dash.

Girls

St. Edmond — Anna Lursen, 400-meter run, 400-meter hurdles; Mariah Myers, shot put, discus.

Algona — 4×100-meter relay (Lillian Allie, Kaitlyn Burns, Summer Thompson, Natalie Johnson).

Clarion-Goldfield/Dows — MaKayla Beisel, high jump.

Emmetsburg — Rachel Schany, high jump, long jump.

Manson Northwest Webster — Alyssa Richman, 3,000-meter run.

Newell-Fonda — Lindsey Wolf, high jump.

Pocahontas Area — Halee Hauswirth, shot put; 4×100-meter relay (Halee Hauswirth, Danica Dreith, Khloe Mefferd, Amanda Davis).

West Bend-Mallard — Allison Fehr, high jump.