Far left photo: Phenix Gibbs, a sophomore at Pella High School, will compete in the high jump at Drake Relays on Friday. At left, Pella Christian senior Bailey Vos will compete in the final Drake Relays of her high school career, running in the sprint medley and 400m run. Above, Ezra Ochsner, second from left, and his PC teammates qualified for the Drake Relays in the 4x100.
Six athletes with ties to the community will represent their teams at the 116th Drake Relays Apr. 24-25. The official start of the Drake Relays kicked off on Saturday, Apr. 18, with the Drake Road Races. Local high school athletes will compete on the Blue Oval Friday and Saturday.
Pella Christian senior Bailey Vos, daughter of Curt and Candice Vos, and her PC teammates qualified to run on the Blue Oval in the sprint medley, and she individually qualified in the 400m race. Vos and her sprint medley teammates run on Friday, Apr. 24, at 9:50 a.m. Later that day, she will run her open 400 at 5:28 p.m.
Phenix Gibbs, a sophomore competing for the Pella High School girls track and field team and the daughter of Nick and Emily (Gibbs) Bergfeld and granddaughter of Tom and Rhonda Pool, hit a season-best in the high jump of 5’-3.75” to qualify for the Drake Relays. She will compete among the best jumpers in the state of Iowa on Friday, Apr. 24, at 9:30 a.m.
Pella Christian senior Ezra Ochsner, son of Brian and Becky Ochsner, and his 4x100 teammates will run in the 4x100 at the Drake Relays. Prelims for the high school boys’ 4x100 is Saturday morning, Apr. 25, at 10:12 a.m. Finals for the boys 4x100 is at 2:44 p.m. on Saturday.
Piper Vander Ley, granddaughter of Melvin and Shirley Van Genderen, will compete at the 116th Drake Relays in the 800m run and 4x800 with her Waukee Northwest teammates. Erica Vos, granddaughter of Judson and Pam Vos, will compete for Pella High School in the girls 4x800. Mason Gaulke, also representing Pella High School and the grandson of Robert and Rosemary Nikkel, will run in the boys’ 4x800.
To learn more about the 116th Drake Relays in Des Moines, visit https://godrakebulldogs.com/sports/drake-relays.
