Indianola's Walker Whalen, Southeast Polk's Abu Sama dominated in Drake Relays field events

Indianola's Walker Whalen is made sure to put the boys discus competition at the Drake Relays to bed early.

Whalen hit 191 feet, 5 inches on his first throw of the second flight on Thursday evening. That throw easily held up as the top throw of the event to give Whalen his first Drake Relays title after placing fifth in the event a year ago.

"It felt good," Whalen said. "I didn't feel like it was 191 when it came out of my hand, but after I hit the mark I was happy."

Whalen's performance and a near-record from Southeast Polk's Abu Sama in the boys long jump highlighted an eventful day of high school field events at Drake.

More: Live updates and analysis from Thursday's Distance Carnival at the 2022 Drake Relays

Less than an inch short of breaking a decades-old record

Sama fell just short of breaking a 38-year-old record for the high school boys long jump at Drake.

Sama jumped 23 feet, 11 inches on his third jump to win the event. He was less than an inch away from breaking the 23-11.75 mark set by Davenport Central's Chris Walker back in 1984.

Sama won the event by just under 8 inches. Lisbon's Kole Becker placed second with a jump of 23-3.25.

Sama is just a junior, so he will likely get another crack at the record in 2023.

More: Here are the 2022 Drake Relays high school track and field qualifiers

Jaden Brumbaugh takes girls shot put

Mount Pleasant's Jaden Brumbaugh came home with the Drake Relays title in the girls shot put Thursday.

Brumbaugh's top throw was 47-6.5 on her fifth attempt. Brumbaugh was dominant in the event, with all six of her throws going over 45 feet and besting the rest of the field.

Denver's Sydney Eggena took second with a distance of 42-1.75.

Maddie Olson edges Taylor Jochum in the girls high jump

Sheldon's Maddie Olson hit 5-7 on her first attempt to claim the girls high jump championship Thursday.

Olson cleared the bar on her first five jumps before failing to get over the 5-8 mark. That was just enough to get her past Bishop Heelan's Taylor Jochum.

Jochum cleared the bar on her first three attempts, but it took her three tries to get over 5-6. Jochum again made it over the bar on her first try at 5-7, but was unable to clear 5-8.

Walker Whalen does father proud

Whalen went into Drake with the potential to set a new meet record.

He topped 200 feet earlier in the year with a peak distance of 202-10. That would have topped the Drake record mark of 199-1 set in 2004 by Newton's Chase Madison.

But though Wahlen fell short of the record, he's still in great position heading toward state in a few weeks.

"He has had quite a year," Indianola throwing coach Jeremy Whalen said. "It's a phenomenal year for discus throwers and it's kept him super-hungry."

Jeremy also happens to be Walker's dad. He made sure to give Whalen a big hug at the conclusion of the event.

"I'm very proud as a dad and coach," Jeremy Whalen said.

Whalen's throw on Thursday was over 27 feet farther than his toss at last year's state meet, when he placed fifth in Clas 4A.

"It's just been a lot of work being put in," Walker Whalen said. "The work is all paying off. The goal coming out here wasn't a record, it was to go out and throw my best and if that's a record, that's a record. It's awesome that I won it. I'll enjoy it for 24 hours, but after that it's onto the next thing, and that's winning state."

Linn-Mar's McKade Jelinek, last year's 4A state champion in the event, placed second Thursday with a throw of 181-1.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Walker Whalen, Abu Sama just miss Drake Relays records in field events