DES MOINES — With wind speeds increasing and temperatures in the mid-50s, the Drake Relays high jump competition was afoot. Area athletes included Kennedy Brant of Gladbrook Reinbeck, Allison Koch of Grundy Center, and Kylee Schuler of West Marshall.

With a starting height of 5 feet, 2 inches, Brant cleared the bar on her first attempt while Koch and Schuler went over on their second attempt.

With the bar moved up to 5-4, Schuler struggled getting her waist and legs clear of the bar, ultimately failing all three attempts at the new height. Brant and Koch cleared the height on their second attempt.

Brant, who successfully jumped 5-6 last week at Hudson, struggled through the adverse temperatures and failed to clear the third height. Koch of Grundy suffered the same fate, failing to jump 5-6.

Brant was joined on the sideline by familiar Gladbrook Reinbeck coach, and her mother Justina Brant. After each jump Kennedy would jog back over to her mom and review footage of her jumps. A comfortable face for the Rebel junior to work with.

“With my coach not here my mom is filling in, she’s easy to talk to,” Kennedy said. “She’s been my coach my whole life, it’s nice to have her down here.”

A similar sentiment was echoed by mom/coach Justina Brant.

“She did well, cold conditions, but the last two weeks she’s been jumping really solid, improved a lot from last year,” she said. “I’m proud of her.”

While Koch and Brant jumped the same height of 5-4, Koch’s miss on her first attempt at 5-2 was the difference between Brant’s fifth-place tie and Koch’s own 10th-place finish. Schuler tied for 14th.