Some of the area’s top track & field stars shined bright on the big stage of the 113th annual Drake Relays this weekend at Drake University in Des Moines. The most outstanding performance belonged to Elijah Morris of the Washington Demons. The senior was not only second in the 400-meter dash, but his time of 48.52 seconds was a photo finish away from victory. The defending Class 3A state champion in the 400 lost to Mount Ayr junior Ryce Reynolds by only six-one-hundredths of a second.

Columbus Wildcat senior Triston Miller was also a runner-up out of 31 competitors in the 110-meter hurdles. Miller’s time of 14.24 seconds was only a tenth of a second away from victory, and hitting 14.17 seconds in qualifying is the 14th-fastest time in state history.

Miller also ran a leg on Columbus’ four-by-100-meter relay team, which finished sixth overall. After posting the eighth-best qualifying time, Miller, senior Jeff Hoback, junior Kaden Amigon and sophomore Riley Kaalberg finished the finals in 43.13 seconds, a little less than one-and-a-half seconds behind the winning time.

Amigon was 19th overall in the first round of the 100 meters in just over 11 seconds flat, while Winfield-Mount Union junior Cam Buffington had a top finish in the long jump, leaping 20 feet 10-and-a-quarter inches to earn 11th out of 25 jumpers. His teammate with the Wolves, junior Gabriel Hemsworth, was 16th in the 400 hurdles in 58.66 seconds.

Washington’s 4-by-100 team of seniors Ethan Patterson, Aidan Ulin, Austin Rebling and Cameron Vongpanya posted a time of 45.71 seconds, while the Lone Tree Lion quartet of senior Riley Krueger, freshman Ava Christofferson and sophomores Vivian Zaruba and Rylee Shield finished the girls’ first round in 52.32 seconds.