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Reaching new heights

South Tama’s Keith Keahna climbs to 2nd in high jump

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON • South Tama County junior Keith Keahna sails over the bar during an attempt in the high jump on Friday in the 109th Drake Relays. Keahna placed second in the high jump with a vault of 6 feet, 7 inches.

DES MOINES — Competing in a big event like the Drake Relays can seem a daunting task, but most athletes are creatures of habit and when you strip away the banners and pageantry, the event is just another meet.

At least, that was how South Tama County junior Keith Keahna said he approached his first ever April trip to Drake Stadium.

“I treated it like it was state, I just ignored all the ‘Drake Relays’ name and banners,” Keahna said. “Coming down here with the banners and all that is really cool though, and it tells you that you are top 24 in the state.”

Keahna isn’t just one of the top 24 jumpers in the state, however, as he entered the competition with the second-best qualifying mark in Iowa at 6 feet, 8 inches. He lived up to the hype as well, though he didn’t match his personal-best of 6-8 he did clear 6-7 on his second attempt, which when the dust settled was good enough for the second-best performance of the event.

“I feel really good, coming down here for my first Drake Relays and getting second is a big honor,” Keahna said.

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON

He might have done everything in his power to keep the moment from overwhelming him, but Keahna said as he was warming up for his first attempt at 6-1 he did start to feel the pressure.

“Before I started I had a little bit of butterflies in my stomach. That always happens when I come down here and jump, but once you get that first jump in you just settle in,” he said. “I think they came back a little bit when I missed my first jump at 6-3, that’s when you start to worry about the tiebreakers and all of that, but then you just have to take a few breaths, relax and get back into it.”

Keahna had to fight through adversity in each of the next three heights, as he missed the first attempt at 6-3, 6-5 and 6-7 before clearing the bar on the second attempt.

“That was a little bit of distractions and nerves,” Keahna said of his struggle with the first attempt. “During my approach I see a whole bunch of media cameras over there filming me as I jump and that gets in my head a little bit, but once you get to the second one you know what you need to do better and you just ignore everything going around you and just focus.”

At 6-9 it was actually his first attempt that was the closest, as Keahna nearly cleared the height his first time through but barely nicked the bar with his hand.

Last year at the state championship, Keahna placed fifth clearing 6-5, so him nearly setting a new school record at 6-9 on Friday shows how far he has come in a short time.

“I think my approach has gotten so much better, just working on it in practice and making sure it’s consistent and flows nicely and working on my technique going over the bar,” he said. “That’s just improved so much over the past three years and I am hoping to keep getting better. There is always room for improvement.”

Now that he has a taste of what it will take to clear that elusive 6-9 height, Keahna said he is excited be back in Des Moines only a few short weeks from now and compete for some more hardware.

“My goal was to clear 6-7 and place top 3 at state. Now I think my goal moving forward is to get to 6-9 and break the school record,” he said. “I’m going for a state championship this year, compete with defending champion Blair Brooks and go in there and win it all now.”

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