As if one Drake Relays championship flag wasn’t enough, junior Jhoanmy Luque added a second in as many days Saturday in the triple jump.

This time, however, it wasn’t as expected after Luque finished second overall behind Tori Franklin, who ran unattached for Take Notice Sports Management.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting it because [Tori Franklin] won, but she was unattached,” Luque said. “So when the official came and told me that I got the flag and that I won, it was like ‘Oh, OK, I didn’t know that.’ I’ll take it, so I’m happy.”

After fouling on her first two jumps, Luque recorded her best leap of the day on her third attempt, 43 feet and 0.5 inches, just before the rain began to pick up.

“I was kind of nervous for my [third jump], but I all I needed to do was to make the final, so I tried to play it safe,” Luque said. “I’m pretty happy with my mark. I know I can jump farther, so let’s wait for conference and see how it goes.”

Luque has yet to return to the level she was at a year ago when she recorded a career-best leap of 43 feet and 10.5 inches.

Ever since the 2017 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships wrapped up in mid-March, she said her focus has been on improving her technique and speed.

“After indoor nationals, we have been working a lot on my speed,” Luque said. “We run 20, 30 and 40 meters from blocks … but also the mechanics and keeping the form because that is going to translate into the approach.”

More improvement on the track

Despite a second consecutive day of cold and rainy weather, the Cyclones were able to continue their season-long improvement in running events, with Kelly Naumann recording a personal record and the second fastest time in Iowa State history in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

The sophomore distance runner ran a clean race, crossing the finish line fifth in 10 minutes and 21.45 seconds.

Iowa State concluded its weekend in relay events with a third-place finish in the distance medley.

Junior Evelyne Guay ran a strong first leg, sticking toward the front of the pack before passing the baton to sophomore Emma Whigham with only .21 seconds of separation between her and Eastern Illinois’ Kristen Paris for second place.  

“I thought the Air Force girl started out pretty fast, so I gave her a little bit of space, and then eventually the field caught up to her,” Guay said. “I actually felt pretty good with a lap to go, so I just kind of hung in there and kicked, but unfortunately Oklahoma State outkicked us.”

Whigham snuck into second on her 400-leg race, and Staebler maintained Iowa State’s position while Oklahoma State pulled away in first.

“I was in a really good position when I got the baton,” Staebler said. “Ev had a really strong leadoff and Emma got us in a really good position, so I just really tried to maintain where we were at and just run as hard as I could to get Erinn in a good position for her leg.”

The field caught up to Stenman-Fahey on the final 1,600-leg of the race, but a strong kick in the final 300 meters gave Iowa State its second straight top-three relay performance during the weekend.

“That was my first time running the anchor leg on the DMR, so I was a little nervous going into it,” Stenman-Fahey said. “But when I got the baton, the Oklahoma State girl was a little bit ahead, so I was kind of in no-man’s land for a bit. Eventually the field caught up; I just had to use them to help me through the middle parts of the race. I just kicked hard the last 300, 200, and gave it all I had.”

Redshirt junior Erin Hooker concluded Drake Relays action for Iowa State, finishing 10th overall in the 1,500-meter run in 4:38.99.