Covering the communities of Farnhamville , Callender , Somers , Moorland , Harcourt , Paton and Dayton since 1889

Wednesday , April 28 , 2021 GOWRIE , WEBSTER COUNTY , IOWA VOL . 132 NO . 17

By Shari Everhart

Two Southeast Valley High School athletes were among the participants at this year ’ s 2021 Drake Relays held in Des Moines last week .

Kirsten Fisher and Kaleb Scott were among the athletes who competed in their respective events on the ‘ Blue Oval ’ track on Thursday , April 22nd .

It was a nail-biter for family and friends who may have wanted to be in the stands to watch . Tickets were at a premium as it was the decision of Drake University to limit capacity at the Drake Relays due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Last year ’ s relays were scrubbed altogether due to the virus with the restrictions and directives put in place to slow the spread of the virus . This year ’ s relays caused some anxiety for parents wanting to attend as in-person spectators as the university ’ s policy was to release tickets to last year ’ s pass-holders first , followed by Drake University boosters and alumni . By the time the general public had a crack at securing tickets at 10:00 a . m . last

Thursday , the tickets were gone , apparently selling out within a matter of minutes .

Reportedly , it is guessed that a total of 3,000 tickets were initially available for the 14,557 seating capacity at Drake stadium . One can only surmise that it was a logical move on the part of the university ’ s experts determining what would be allowed and work in the best interests of the fans under the continuing pandemic standards .

However , that left a lot of disappointed fans and parents who very much wanted to be physically present to watch their athlete perform and definitely created the problem of getting tickets to the high school events scheduled Thursday , April 22 . Some parents and fans had to settle for watching the relays via live streaming .

Luckily for Kirsten ’ s parents , Heather and Gerald ( JR ) Fisher of Farnhamville , and Kaleb ’ s parents , Lorna and Rob Scott of Pilot Mound , they were able to acquire tickets to the relays . The Fishers got their tickets from a friend that was a season ticket holder . However , Kirsten ’ s grandparents , Jerry and Alana Jondle had to watch and listen from their position by the track ’ s fence . Kirsten ’ s family didn ’ t want to miss this year ’ s relays as Kirsten is a senior at Southeast Valley and has qualified three years for the relays .

Heather noted that she went on Facebook and asked if anyone had tickets for the relays for sale that she could purchase . She found out that the general public tickets had sold out in three minutes and thinking that had to be a mistake , she called Drake and they said that it was true ; they were sold out and that season ticket holders were the only

Drake Relays Continued on page 9 ...

Kaleb Scott

Kiersten Fisher

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