T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON • South Tama County junior Stacey Slaven makes an attempt at clearing 5 feet, 2 inches, during the high jump competition at the Drake Relays on Thursday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

DES MOINES — Just qualifying once for the Drake Relays in a career is an accomplishment for any Iowa high school athlete. Qualifying two years in a row is something to brag about for the rest of your life.

For the third-straight year, South Tama County junior Stacey Slaven was present down at Drake competing in the high jump on Thursday as the high school portion of the 109th iteration of the Relays got underway.

For a third year in a row, Slaven was one of the 24 best high jumpers in the state, regardless of class. With the way the spring season has started, however, Slaven said she wasn’t exactly sure she was going to make it back down to Drake for her junior season.

“The first meets since we’ve had so many cancelled, the season didn’t start out exactly how I expected it to so when I found out I made it here I was really excited because I wasn’t sure because I wasn’t having the best season,” she said. “I am pretty OK with how I did.”

Slaven did in fact qualify once again for the Relays, and once she got down to Des Moines the familiar feeling of competition washed over her.

“I came in kind of knowing what to expect so I wasn’t scared or anything,” Slaven said.

That was clear as the warm-ups went on, as other girls with less experience walked about nervously Slaven calmly sat and waited for her time to come to start her preparations.

Slaven was one of the last competitors to start her round, so as she waited for the other 22 girls in front of her to go through their jumps she still sat calmly and watched her opponents achieve or fail.

Finally it was her time to shine, and Slaven confidently walked up, went through her steps and cleared the opening height of 5 feet in just one attempt.

The second height was a different story. Slaven again was one of the last competitors to attempt the jump at 5-2, the height she had cleared in each of her first two trips down to the Relays, and on her first jump she just narrowly missed moving on.

Her second jump didn’t clear either, so Slaven was on the verge of having her day end on just the second height of the competition.

“I was really nervous after missing the first two at 5-2, so I was scared that I wouldn’t make it,” she said.

Slaven shook off the nerves and made her approach for her final jump at the height, and this time everything clicked as she soared over the bar without so much as a wiggle.

That would be the final height she cleared, as Slaven missed her three chances and wasn’t one of the seven girls to continue on to the next height.

What Slaven said she gained most was confidence before a possible repeat trip down to Des Moines for the state tournament next month, a meet she said is much easier compared to the Drake Relays.

“This one is harder, there is a lot more really good competition so state seems kind of less stressful,” she said.

As for finishing her third time jumping in the Relays and setting up a possible four-peat next season, Slaven said she couldn’t be happier.

“I’m just pretty proud of myself,” she said with a wide grin.