Olson places 25th in Drake Relays debut

By BRANDON HURLEY

Sports Editor
sports@beeherald.comm

The return of the Drake Relays provided a necessary jolt.

Now, Greene County’s lone qualifier must transfer those lessons into gold.

Senior Brooklyn Olson couldn’t quite capitalize on her unique opportunity April 22 in Des Moines, but still gained valuable experience during the all-class girls shot put.
Olson finished 25th with a top throw of 34-05.50 amidst a sunny and bright afternoon outside of Drake Stadium. Her first toss was the only one which counted, as Olson scratched on her other two attempts.
Greene County’s only Drake Relays qualifier entered the meet with a season-best toss of 38-05 (a Greene County school record), which tied her for 12th in the state. Last week’s throw was four feet shorter than her best, which left plenty to be desired, Greene County head coach Derek Merk said.

“We still have things to work (and) improve upon,” the coach said. “Although she had hoped to do better, she had a positive attitude afterwards.”

Mount Pleasant’s Jadan Brumbaugh won the Drake Relays title with a top throw of 43-03. She was nearly two feet in front of runner-up Kelsey Fields of Creston (41-05) and a full three feet beyond third place Faith DeRonde of Oskaloosa (40-01.5).
Olson was only four inches short of catching Ames’ Ella Stagg (34-09.5), who placed 24th and roughly two-and-a-half feet from sliding inside the top 15. Pella Christian’s Lauren Pope was 14th with a top throw of 36-10.25. If Olson had managed to match her school-record toss or at least break the 38-foot mark, she would’ve easily wiggled her way into the top 10. Oskaloosa’s Sophia Dykstra finished 10th with a top throw of 37-6.5.

Olson took the disappointing performance to heart Thursday, knowing a slightly better throw, one more along the lines of her average toss, could’ve easily launched her up the standings. That realization in itself, Merk said, was a solid breakthrough.

“I think this shows some growth and maturity on her part,” the coach said. “She was very reflective on what went wrong in the way of her technique and she is determined to build on some of the earlier successes she’s had this season.”
The track and field postseason is quickly arriving. The Heart of Iowa Conference meet will take place Thursday, May 6 in Monroe while the Rams will travel to Manson for a Class 2A state qualifying meet the following week, May 13. Greene County will compete against teams from Eagle Grove, East Sac County, Emmetsburg, OA-BCIG, Pocahontas Area, Ridge View, South Central Calhoun, Sioux Central, Manson-Northwest Webster and Southeast Valley.
The 2021 state co-ed track and field meet will be held May 20-22.

RAMS, ROCKETS SNAG GOLDS IN GRANGER

Katrina Heupel won the 400-meter title with a personal best time of 1:04.88, helping the Rams to a fourth-place finish at the Hawk Relays in Woodward April 27.
The sophomore out-lasted her sister Natalie Heupel, who finished second with a time of 1:05.43, also a personal record.

The Rams finished the night with a trio of gold medals, as the 4-by-400-meter relay squad of the Heupel sisters as well as Olivia Shannon and Makala Kafer finished first with a time of 4:32.18 while Brooklynn Olson took home a gold medal in the discus with a season-best toss of 115-04.5. Olson also finished runner-up in the shot put (35-03), losing out to Paton-Churdan’s Danielle Hoyle, who took home top honors with a toss of 37-06. The senior broke the school record a few weeks back, a mark which stood for more than 50 years, securing a throw of 38-08.
Hoyle finished runner-up in the discus with a top throw of 107-05.

Shannon wrapped up the top-tier placements with a personal best 27.64 in the 200-meter dash, which secured her the bronze medal.
Nodaway Valley cruised to the team title with 162 points Tuesday while host Woodward-Granger finished runner-up with 105 points, barely edging out the West Central Valley Wildcats (103 points). Greene County scored 80 points as a team, well in front of fifth-place Glidden-Ralston (65) and Paton-Churdan (31).

The Rams are next in action Thursday in Story City and they’ll then head to North Polk on Monday.
Greene County begins preparing for the postseason with the Heart of Iowa Conference meet next Thursday in Monroe. The Rams will then compete in a Class 2A state qualifying meet May 13 in Manson along with Eagle Grove, East Sac County, Emmetsburg, OA-BCIG, Pocahontas Area, Ridge View, South Central Calhoun, Sioux Central and Southeast Valley.