The weekend of April 24, Kennedy High School athletes participated at the Drake Relays for track and field. Kennedy had three athletes qualify: Brenden Linde, jr., in the high jump, Brody Lovell, sr., in the long jump and Addison Swartzendruber, fr., in the 400 meter dash.

Sydney Swartzendruber, fr., placed eighth in the 800 meter run. Reid Pakkibier, sr., finished ninth in the long jump and 11th in the 110m hurdles. Drew Bartels, sr., finished third in the long jump and won the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 14.40 seconds and won the 400m hurdles with a time of 54.14.

Kennedy also had two relay teams compete at Drake: the Men’s 100m Dash, with athletes Jazan Williams, so., Braxton Torgerson, sr., Will Dyar, sr. and Rogelio Torres, sr. The Men’s Shuttle Hurdle relay also competed, with Pakkibier, Bartels, Lovell and Max White, sr., who both won their relay with a time of 57.95 seconds.

¨It was a pretty crazy atmosphere at Drake going out on the track and seeing thousands of people surrounding you. The people we were competing against were the best in the state so to say I was a part of the best still shocks me,” said Torgerson.

The Kennedy men’s and women’s track teams will continue their season until state on Thursday, May 20, where runners look to improve on their results from Drake.