Clay repeats top-half finish in Drake Relays 100

 DES MOINES -- In a race often dominated by large-school sprinters, AHSTW junior Gage Clay once again held his own in the Drake Relays’ 100-meter dash Friday morning.
 Running out of lane 8, Clay struggled a bit coming out of the blocks but recovered well to finish third in Heat 2 and place 14th out of 32 qualifiers overall.
 His time of 11.24 seconds - run on a cold, damp morning - was not far off the cutoff for making the finals (11.12) or his season-best (11.07) which currently ranks fifth in Class 2-A.
 “I felt tight out of the blocks, but everything came (together) and I pushed my way through the finish to get third in my heat,” Clay said afterward.
 Clay also competed at Drake last season when he ran a time of 11.09 and placed 12th in the 100. Considering that he was one of the lower-seeded qualifiers this year, Clay was pleased to finish in the top half of the field.