Aplington-Parkersburg will be represented at the Drake Relays by the boys 4×100 group of Maddox Kruger, Sully Janssen, Owen Pruisner, Mason Pruisner and Trevan Thomas as an alternate.
Mason Pruisner says the group was confident it could accomplish big things immediately after their first outdoor meet of the season, setting a new program record of 44.34.
“We knew what we were capable of because the East Marshall meet, there was crazy headwind and like 35 mile an hour gusts and we ran school record then,” Pruisner says. “But we knew what we were capable of without the wind and nice weather and we were just able to show that.”
They followed up that performance by earning their Drake seed time of 43.54 at the Hudson Relays on Thursday, April 16, the final night of qualifying. Janssen says it’s a special opportunity for the program, which will return to the Drake Relays for the first time since 2023.
“The last group of AP boys to go down was the shuttle hurdle my freshman year,” Janssen says. “So it’s been a minute. I’ve never gotten to compete at the Drake Relays. We’re familiar with the track and the facilities from State Track, but it will be exciting to see the Drake Relays as a meet.”
The preliminary race will be Saturday at 10:12 a.m. The top eight times from the 96 entries will compete in the final, which will start at 2:44 p.m.
