Two local student-athletes won championships at the Drake Relays Friday.
Iowa Falls-Alden senior Jaden Damiano turned in two record-breaking performances to claim the boys 110-meter hurdles championship. Damiano started his day by not only winning the prelim, but set a meet record in the event by finishing in 13.98 seconds. In the final, Damiano blazed to the finish by again setting a new meet record of 13.84. He says he ran the race exactly how he intended.
“This year, I’ve just focused on running clean, running like a nice race, not really stuttering or going over any hurdles bad,” Damiano says. “It was just a clean race. That was my goal.”
Damiano on how he attained his speed.
“I think it’s my start. My start and the time in between hurdles has really been a big player in my time this year. Especially, I fixed my start. I’ve been really strong this year so far. And then in between the hurdles, it’s not really about going over. I focused a lot about in between, sprinting through the hurdles. It has helped me a lot.”
Damiano also placed 19th in the 100-meter dash in a time of 11.45. Hampton-Dumont-CAL senior Gavin Meader placed 28th in that race in 11.65.
After winning her second straight Drake Relays shot put title Thursday, Hampton-Dumont-CAL junior Charlee Morton took gold in the discus, also accomplishing the feat for the second straight year. Morton’s first throw of the day reached 134-11, which put her in fifth place to earn a spot in the finals. In her fifth attempt, she fired a 141-2 to move into the lead, where she stayed for the rest of the event.
“I knew I had to start off strong, and I started with a 135, which I felt really confident in,” Morton says. “My other throws weren’t as far as I wanted. I felt like I still had a good groove. I was just not getting that 140 like I wanted. But I knew there’s like one thing I needed to critique, and I did that, and that’s how I threw my 141, and just knowing those little things that really matter, just fixing that one little thing led me to here.”
Morton on her growing legacy.
“It feels really great, knowing that I made history. I never really thought that as a little kid that I would do this, to be honest. I feel like I’m always very goal driven and I wanna meet my goals, but I didn’t really know this was gonna be a goal on the list. But it feels amazing and knowing that I made a statement, everybody will know I’ve won it back to back and I’m hoping to do it again next year and for state, just meeting all those goals.”
Morton has won six straight combined discus and shot put titles, including at the Drake Relays and Class 3A state championships.
Hampton-Dumont-CAL’s Meader, Gage Plagge, Tate Murray and Carson Hisler placed 19th in the 4×200-meter relay, finishing in 1:31.20.
South Hardin senior Traven Wheeler placed 12th in the boys high jump, clearing 6-3.
The Drake Relays will conclude Saturday.
