WATERLOO - Tuesday's annual Gordy Yuska Relays were viewed by some as a tuneup for the upcoming Drake Relays.

Perhaps that's a good thing, because the Northeast Iowa contingent sputtered at times. That allowed Iowa City High (92 points) to zip to the top of the team standings, edging past Cedar Rapids Washington (89).

Meanwhile, a Cedar Valley group that often operated in fits and starts was led by Waterloo West, which finished in sixth place (53 points), followed by Cedar Falls (45).

"Overall," said Wahawk coach Matt MacKenzie, "we've got things to work on.

"We've gotta rise to the occasion."

Cedar Falls sports one of the state's top relay units this season.

West possesses solid relay teams and sterling field-event performers, including defending state-champion high jumper TrayVonn Wright.

But both the Tigers and Wahawks experienced mixed results Tuesday.

While West's best performance may have been Wright's second-place showing in the high jump (6 feet, 4 inches), Tigers like Jordan Velasquez tamed their competition in impressive fashion at times.

"We have a really good team," said Velasquez, "and I'm kinda surprised, because some of 'em are kind of young."

Velasquez served as the metro's brightest star, having his hand in on a pair of first-place finishes, in the 400 and in the distance medley.

"All and all," noted Tigers coach Bob Schmidt, "I feel good. We came over here and what we really wanted to accomplish was to lower our time (in relays). And we did that."

Among area schools, Dike-New Hartford's Sid Hansen held his own against the supposed big boys, posting a first-place finish in the long jump, with a leap (22 feet, 6 3/4 inches). That narrowly edged Waterloo East's Darius Washington (21-11 1/2).

With the Drake Relays looming (April 23-25), area coaches expect peak performances soon.

Tuesday was at least a slight step in that direction - whether you were from Cedar Falls, West or East.

"We're still trying to find the right combination of kids," said East coach Tim Moses, assessing his largely inexperienced squad. "But we see positives."

"I'm optimistic," said Cedar Falls' Schmidt. "We're going down (to Drake) to win. I think we've put ourselves in position where we can do real well."

Contact Kelly Beaton at (319) 291-1456 or kelly.beaton@wcfcourier.com

TEAM STANDINGS - 1. Iowa City High 92; 2. Cedar Rapids Washington 89; 3. Waukee 85; 4. West Des Moines Valley 64.5; 5. Boone 55; 6. Waterloo West 53; 7. Cedar Falls 45; 8. Linn-Mar 40; 9. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 37; 10. Mason City 36; 11. Dike-New Hartford 27.5; 12. Cedar Rapids Jefferson 22.5; 13. Waterloo East 20; 14. Waverly-Shell Rock 15; 15. Marshalltown 11; 16. Fort Dodge 9.5.

100 - 1. Kevin Dibbern (Iowa City High) 11.09 seconds; 2. Alex Carr (C.R. Washington) 11.14; 3. Togbah Gabriel (West Des Moines Valley) 11.37; 4. Keenan Davis (C.R. Washington) 11.38; 5. Shay Hoffman (C.R. Jefferson) 11.39.

400 - 1. Jordan Velasquez (Cedar Falls) :49.56; 2. Isiah Cook (Waterloo West) 49.66; 3. Ross Lorber (Waukee) 50.89; 4. Jerrold Manago (WW) 51.26; Kyle Burns (Waukee) 51.86.

3,200 - 1. Scott Mittman (I.C. High) 9 minutes, 46.67 seconds; 2. Tyler Rich (Waukee) 9:52.15; 3. Kit Coppess (WDMV) 9:54.26; 4. Brogan Austin (Boone) 10:05.13; 5. Tanner Reyhons (Cedar Falls) 10:08.47.

4x800 RELAY - 1. C.R. Kennedy 8:11.79; 2. Marshalltown 8:12.34; 3. C.R. Washington 8:12.42; 4. Iowa City High 8:17.11; 5. Mason City 8:19.01.

SHUTTLE HURDLE RELAY - 1. C.R. Washington :59.43; 2. C.R. Kennedy 59.50; 3. Linn-Mar :59.77; 4. Boone 1:01.55; 5. W.D.M. Valley 1:01.59.

4x200 RELAY - 1. C.R. Washington 1:29.42; 2. C.R. Kennedy 1:30.83; 3. Cedar Falls 1:31.29; 4. Mason City 1:31.29; 5. Boone 1:31.59.

110 HURDLES - 1. Larry Johnson (CRW) :15.48; 2. Matt Smith (Waterloo East) 15.51; T3. Harrison Shelby III (WE) 15.58; T3. James Taylor (ICH) 15.58; 5. DeAndre Johnson (WDMV) 15.75.

1,600 - 1. Lew Manirumva (CRW) 4:31.45; 2. Jacob Gerber (CRJ) 4:35.05; 3. Calvin Simmons (ICH) 4:36.42; 4. Erick Pence (Waukee) 4:37.57; 5. Tyler Rich (Waukee) 4:37.67.

200 - 1. Dibbern (ICH) :22.28; 2. Jordan Appenzeller (Boone) 22.83; 3. Mike Eckhart (Boone) 22.90; 4. I. Cook (WW) 23.05; 5. Adam Johnson (D-NH) 23.23.

400 HURDLES - 1. Lorber (Waukee) :55.17; 2. Alen Sarkic (WW) 56.53; 3. Logan Busch (Boone) 57.01; 4. Blake Campbell (Boone) 57.41; 5. Matt Smith (WW) 57.53.

DISTANCE MEDLEY - 1. Cedar Falls 3:35.56; 2. C.R. Kennedy 3:38.68; 3. W.D.M. Valley 3:38.96; 4. Waverly-Shell Rock 3:39.10; 5. Waterloo West 3:41.37.

800 - 1. Manirumva (CRW) 2:01.37; 2. Jeremy Krueger (ICH) 2:03.88; 3. Mason True (Mason City) 2:04.21; 4. Kaleb Seaton (Waukee) 2:04.64; 5. Dyllon McIntosh (ICH) 2:05.83.

4x100 RELAY - 1. C.R. Washington :43.59; 2. W.D.M. Valley 43.94; 3. Waukee 44.47; 4. I.C. High 44.55; 5. Boone 44.65.

4x400 RELAY - 1. Waukee 3:25.36; 2. C.R. Jefferson 3:26.41; 3. Boone 3:26.75; 4. Dike-NH 3:27.23; 5. I.C. High 3:28.70.

HIGH JUMP - 1. Nate Hutcheson (Linn-Mar) 6 feet, 4 inches; 2. TrayVonn Wright (WW) 6-4; 3. Sid Hanson (Dike-New Hartford) 6-2; 4. K. Davis (CRW) 6-2; 5. Nick Lucs (Waukee) 6-2.

SHOT PUT - 1. Kevin Harp (I.C. High) 53-7 1/2; 2. Coltin Hahle (Mason City) 51-7 3/4; 3. Naser Hannoon (WDMV) 50-8 1/4; 4. Henry Kelley (Waukee) 48-10 1/2; 5. Jake Dix (CF) 47-9.

DISCUS - 1. Hannoon (WDMV) 156-5; 2. Henry Kelley (Waukee) 153-3; 3. Matt Schiffer (Mason City) 149-4; 4. Ryan Piche (LM) 143-04; 5. Kevin Hansen (Boone) 137-9.

LONG JUMP - 1. Hansen (Dike-NH) 22-6 3/4; 2. Darius Washington (WE) 21-11 1/2; 3. Barclay Hill (CF) 21-6 1/2; 4. Kyle Dunn (LM) 21-5; 5. Brandon Steggall (Waverly-SR) 21-4.