Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: St. Edmond junior Anna Lursen placed seventh in the 400 hurdles on Saturday at the Drake Relays, one spot better than her eighth-place effort in the 400 on Friday.

DES MOINES — Anna Lursen came out and showed why she is one of the top track athletes in Class 1A here Saturday at the final day of the Drake Relays.

The St. Edmond junior won her heat of the 400-meter hurdles, placing seventh overall in the event on the Blue Oval of America’s Athletic Classic. The race was won by North Central Conference rival Reese Brownlee of Clear Lake.

Lursen clocked a time of 1:04.29, topping Avery Bradley of Muscatine in her heat.

“This was only my fourth time doing the 400 hurdles, so I had little expectations for myself because all I know is how to run and run hard,” Lursen said. “Between each hurdle, I gave it my all, trying to make up for my questionable hurdle form as I’m still a work in progress.

“I’m beyond blessed for this opportunity and I couldn’t have done it without the help and support of my many coaches.”

Brownlee, who has committed to Kansas State University, added gold in the long jump and 400-meter run to her week. The senior also won titles here last year in the long jump and 400.

“Anna ran really well (Saturday),” SEHS head coach CJ Tracy said. “We couldn’t be happier for her and how she competed. For her to come in ranked 18th and finish seventh was quite an accomplishment.

“Both Mariah (Myers) and Anna did an excellent job representing our community and school this past week.”

Lursen took two seconds off her personal record in the 400 hurdles, breaking her own school record in the process. She finished eighth last Friday at Drake in the 400 while Myers had two Top-10 showings in the discus and shot put.

“I was super excited to race the 400, but knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Lursen said. “I got out hard and stayed like that. I had a split of 26 seconds, which is a bit faster than I wanted, but I thought through it.

“My time wasn’t a PR, but I was grateful for being there and thankful for the opportunity.”

Algona’s 4×100-meter relay of William Weichert, Tate Garman, Levi Walker and Evan Allie placed seventh overall after advancing to the finals as the No. 8 seed. The quartet clocked a time of 42.63, as Johnston won it in 41.84.

The Bulldogs were the only non-4A school to qualify for the finals.

Humboldt finished 76th in the first round of the 4×100, as Cash McIntire, Chase Flaherty, Elliot Carlson and Mason Van Pelt went 44.57.

The Algona girls were 57th in the 4×100, with Lillian Allie, Kaitlyn Burns, Summer Thompson and Natalie Johnson going 51.24. Pocahontas Area was 78th in 51.72 behind Halee Hauswirth, Danica Dreith, Khloe Mefferd and Amanda Davis.

Iowa Central’s men’s distance medley relay of Said Rifi Loutfi, Bongumusa Nkosi, Mohamed Dahmouch and Yasser Soualah placed second in 9:51.44 behind Augstana.

The women’s distance medley relay was sixth and the men’s shuttle hurdle relay finished 12th.