Gladbrook-Reinbeck junior Kennedy Brant, left, pictured with her mother, Coach Justina Brant at the 115th Drake Relays held on Friday, April 25, at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. The younger Brant tied for fifth place in the girls high jump by clearing 5 feet, 4 inches, in her Drake Relays debut. PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER

DES MOINES – With wind speeds increasing and temperatures in the mid-50s, the 2025 Drake Relays high jump competition was afoot last Friday, April 25, with Rebel leaper Kennedy Brant leading the local field to finish as part of a five-way tie for fifth ahead of both Grundy Center’s Allison Koch and West Marshall’s Kylee Schuler.

With a starting height of 5 feet, 2 inches, Brant, a junior at Gladbrook-Reinbeck, cleared the bar on her first attempt while Koch and Schuler went over on their second attempt.

With the bar moved up to 5-4, Schuler struggled getting her waist and legs clear of the bar, ultimately failing all three attempts at the new height. Brant and Koch cleared the height on their second attempts.

Brant, who successfully jumped 5-6 last month at the Hudson Relays, struggled through the adverse temperatures and failed to clear the third height. Koch of Grundy suffered the same fate, failing to jump 5-6.

Brant was joined on the sidelines at Drake by a familiar face, her mother Justina Brant who was filling in for head coach Liv Schuman. After each jump, Kennedy would jog back over to her mom and review footage of her jumps.

Kennedy Brant contorts her body over the bar during the girls high jump competition at the Drake Relays last Friday. Brant was the highest area qualifier in the event. PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER

“With my coach not here, my mom is filling in, she’s easy to talk to,” Kennedy said. “She’s been my coach my whole life, it’s nice to have her down here.”

A similar sentiment was echoed by Justina.

“She did well, cold conditions, but the last two weeks she’s been jumping really solid, improved a lot from last year,” she said. “I’m proud of her.”

While Koch and Brant jumped the same height of 5-4, Koch’s miss on her first attempt at 5-2 was the difference between Brant’s fifth-place finish and Koch’s 10th.

Brant tied for fifth alongside Ankeny senior Reagan Hanfelt, Dowling-Catholic senior Alex Gaskell, Maple Valley-Anthon Oto (MVAOCOU) senior Trista Ohlmeier, and Linn-Mar sophomore Claire Lorenz.

Rebel leaper Kennedy Brant reacts following an attempt at the high jump competition during the Drake Relays on Friday, April 25, in Des Moines. PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER

First place in the event went to Adel DeSoto Minburn (ADM) senior London Warmuth who captured her first Drake Relays white flag with a leap of 5-7 (achieved on her first attempt); West Marshall’s Schuler tied for 14th.

PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER