The Drake Relays presented a new way to qualify for the biggest track meet in the state of Iowa. The biggest track meet in the state of Iowa is a meet where girls and boys from high schools, colleges, and even professional athletes come to compete, and a meet where  winning an event wins you a white flag and a victory lap around the track. The Drake Relays is one of the hardest meets to qualify for and it now has a blue standard, a way for only the most elite athletes to make the cut.

“As a former Iowa high school athlete, I know that the blue standards would have changed my goals and how I approached my training to start each season,” the director of relays, Blake Boldon said. “I hope this announcement excites Iowa’s top athletes to qualify for the Drake Relays presented by Hy-Vee and gives athletes like myself who never qualified for the Drake Relays clear goals for this year and beyond.”

To create the blue standard, the committee used historical times from the top 25 percent of entries. Reaching a blue standard time automatically qualifies an athlete to compete at the relays.

The Pleasant Valley girls track and field team was optimistic about the new blue standard going into the 2018 season. Although the girls team has only been able to run at two track meets so far this season, the team has already had a few girls qualify for the Drake Relays within the current cutoffs.

“The blue standard gives athletes something to work toward during off season training because they can qualify as early as they want,” Senior Amaria Kirby commented. Kirby is currently  qualified in the open 100-meter dash and was a part of multiple relays that are headed to the blue oval.

The blue standard is meant to give athletes something to strive for and is seen as excellence when reached. Athletes that achieve the blue standard are encouraged to share their accomplishment using  #MYDRAKERELAYS and #BLUEOVALBOUND to indicate they achieved the blue standards.

“I think having the blue standard is a good goal for athletes and makes the Drake relays an even more elite track meet,” Sophomore Morgan Ramirez stated. “For our team, I think we will be able to a hit a few of those standards because we are one of the best teams in the state.”