DES MOINES, Iowa -- In conjunction with the first day of organized high school track and field practice in the state of Iowa, the 2022 Drake Relays presented by Xtream powered by Mediacom have released the Blue Standards. The Blue Standards are known as the qualifying marks that guarantee acceptance for Iowa high schoolers in the Drake Relays when entered in the meet. When one of the marks is attained, an athlete knows that he or she will be #BlueOvalBound. In addition to these top athletes, coaches should also enter other team members outside of those marks for consideration on the accepted entry list.
"We hope that releasing the Blue Standards provides excitement and motivation to high school athletes," said
Blake Boldon, the Franklin P. Johnson Director of the Drake Relays. "The Blue Standards provide an inspirational goal for Iowa's best athletes to pursue early this season."
The Blue Standards do not change the entry process. Coaches
are still required to enter the athlete(s)/relay in the event on Varsity Bound Meets before the meet entry deadline. Meeting the Blue Standard in an event guarantees acceptance only when the coach enters the athlete/relay in the event. Should four or more athletes from one team meet the standard in the same event, it is up to the coach to determine which three athletes will be entered.
Individuals/Relays do NOT need to meet this standard to qualify for the Drake Relays.
Entries for high schools will open on Monday, March 7 and will close Friday, April 22 at 8 a.m. The final high school start lists will be published by noon on Saturday, April 23.
Certain features and structures of the Drake Relays are planned to return in 2022. At this time, the following details have been confirmed:
- Preliminaries return for 100 meters, 100/110 meter hurdles, 4x100 meter relay, shuttle hurdle relay, and 4x400 meter relay.
- The 4x100 meter relay will return to 96 teams. Preliminaries will be running on Saturday morning with the top eight teams competing in finals on Saturday afternoon.
- The traditional integrated scheduled across three days (April 28-30) will return.
- The Relays Cup team competition consisting of performances in the 4x100 meter relay, 4x400 meter relay, 4x800 meter relay and Medley Relays. If there is a tie, the 4x200 meter relay will serve as the tiebreaker. If neither team ran the 4x200 meter relay then the shuttle hurdle relay will be the second tiebreakers.
Those who achieve the Blue Standard are encouraged to post on social media mentioning @DrakeRelays using the hashtags #MYDRAKERELAYS and #BLUEOVALBOUND.
Drake Relays
2022 High School Blue Standards |
| Boys |
|
Girls |
| 100m |
10.95 |
|
100m |
12.60 |
| 400m |
49.50 |
|
400m |
57.80 |
| 800m |
1:57.90 |
|
800m |
2:18.50 |
| 1600m |
4:24.50 |
|
1500m |
4:46.00 |
| 3200m |
9:34.50 |
|
3000m |
10:25.00 |
| 110mH |
14.90 |
|
100mH |
15.40 |
| 400mH |
55.00 |
|
400mH |
1:06.50 |
| 4x100m |
43.80 |
|
4x100m |
51.00 |
| 4x200m |
1:29.90 |
|
4x200m |
1:47.00 |
| 4x400m |
3:26.00 |
|
4x400m |
4:06.00 |
| 4x800m |
8:06.00 |
|
4x800m |
9:40.00 |
| ShuttleH |
59.50 |
|
ShuttleH |
1:08.00 |
| 1600 Med |
3:37.00 |
|
800 Med |
1:51.50 |
| High Jump |
6-6 |
|
High Jump |
5-5 |
| Long Jump |
22-6 |
|
Long Jump |
17-6 |
| Discus |
166-0 |
|
Discus |
128-0 |
| Shot Put |
54-0 |
|
Shot Put |
41-0 |
| EVENT |
FIELD SIZE |
| 100m |
32 |
| 100mH / 110mH |
32 |
| 400m |
16 |
| 400mH |
16 |
| 800m |
16 |
| 1500m / 1600m |
21 |
| 3000m / 3200m |
21 |
| 4x100m |
96 |
| 4x200m |
24 |
| 4x400 |
24 |
| Medley Relays |
24 |
| 4x800 |
16 |
| Shuttle Hurdle |
16 |
| All Field Events |
24 |
