Axmear and Hadley Highlight Area Athletes Headed to Drake

The Drake Relays are upon us, and two area athletes have secured their bid to the Blue Oval: English Valleys’ Kennedy Axmear and Pekin’s Anna Hadley. Both will be competing in the discus and shot put events.

Axmear secured her bid to Des Moines on April 5, when she recorded a discus throw of 138 meters. The throw of 138 meters was a school record, a record which she had already held, and was a new personal best for the senior. She also secured the school record for the shot put event with a throw of 38-03. That throw was enough to qualify for the Drake Relays in the shot put event as well. 

When asked about the work she put in to get back to the Blue Oval, Axmear responded with, “We start in February right after basketball season. I may not be necessarily working on discus then, but I am working on footwork inside until we can head outside to throw.”

“I have had the discus record since my sophomore year, and I am so happy to be PRing in the discus event. Going into shot as a freshman, I did not think I would come close to breaking the record. My throw last week was amazing, and then I PRed again this past Monday. Reset the record, and I wasn’t even expecting to throw that far,” described Axmear on recording two school records in the past month.

When asked about her emotions of heading back to the Blue Oval, a stadium she has become familiar with in her time with the English Valleys track team, Axmear responded with, “I am excited. I feel like everytime I compete there now it is just practice because I have competed in that ring so many times. The people and the environment there help so much as well. It means the world to me.”

For goals for the Drake Relays, Axmear described hers as, “The goal is always to be a champion again, but gotta work hard when we get there. You  never know how the competition will pan out, but I am ready for it.”

For Hadley, her shot put qualifying round came at the Bullette Invitational in Mediapolis. Her throw of 41-03.50 was just enough for a Drake qualification. She then qualified for discus with a farthest throw of 140-09.00, which is the fifth longest throw recorded in all classes.  Hadley spoke on the work she put in to achieve these records with, “I have been consistently working on making sure my foot placement is where it is supposed to be. I have been doing walk-throughs in the circle as well. I also have worked on getting it faster because the faster it is, the better it will be.”