Foss soars to Drake Relays championship

 DES MOINES -- High school champions were crowned in 20 individual events at the 108th annual Drake Relays this past weekend.
 In nearly every instance, the 2017 flag-winner was already a household name among state track and field followers and ranked at or near the top of the meet’s qualifier list.
 Except for one.
 Harlan Community junior Nick Foss pulled off a win that was equal parts unlikely and impressive in the Drake Relays boys long jump Friday morning, shaking off a cold rain and wind to beat 23 other qualifiers and join a short Cyclone list of Drake champions.
 On the third jump of the entire competition, Foss’s first attempt measured 21 feet, 6.25 inches. Nearly two hours later, that same mark earned him a Drake Relays’ title flag by a mere quarter of an inch over Davenport Central’s Kevin Kurth and Dallas Center-Grimes’ Trey Washington - the state leader for the year at 23-6.5.
 Foss, who prior to this year hadn’t even participated in track since the seventh grade, is now just the second boy in school history to win a Drake championship, adding to Steve Wegner’s back-to-back shot put titles in 2000 and 2001. The Cyclone girls own three Drake victories: Sondra Rauterkus twice in the high jump (1999, 2000) and the 4x400 relay in 2005.
 The talented, soft-spoken Foss - already a state wrestling medalist in February, an all-state running back in football and the starting center fielder on last year’s state championship baseball team - said he basically just treated Friday as any other meet.