(Moville, IA) – The weekend of April 23, 24, and 25th is a special weekend in Iowa. The state, and many times, the nation’s best track and field competitors make the annual pilgrimage to the fabled blue oval at Drake Stadium. The historic event known as the Drake Relays has once again come to pass. Aside from the Penn Relays, the Drake event may just be the top outdoor track and field event in the nation. Imagine the likes of Carl Lewis, Jesse Owens, Lolo Jones, Bob Hayes, Bruce Jenner, Wilma Rudolph, Steve Prefontaine, in essence the best track and field stars our nation and the world has ever seen and they all have at one time competed at the Drake Relays. The beauty of this event is that current track and field stars like Lolo Jones and Jeremy Wariner return to Drake even as professionals and run in the same lanes as the top high school runners in our fine state. Sioux City East track star Ellen Dougherty has distinguished herself as one of the best in the state, and if her plan holds true she may one day be a Drake Relay legend.

A ten time state track meet medalist and two time state champion, Dougherty entered her senior track season as one of the top 400 and 800 meter runners in the state. As a freshman, Dougherty grabbed three state medals placing second in the 400 meter dash, third in the 800 meter dash and anchoring the 6th place 4 x 400 meter relay. Her talent and speed was evident and it was following her freshman year when colleges started expressing their interest.

A foot injury hindered her performance in 2008 (her sophomore year). She did not qualify for Drake that season but by the end of the track season Dougherty was back on the track anchoring the 4 x 400 again at the state meet, this time grabbing 2nd place. She added third place finishes in the 400 and 800 and in the process verbally committed to the University of Northern Iowa to continue her track and field career after high school. It was newly named UNI Head Track Coach Travis Geopfort that convinced Ellen that UNI was the place to be and she was onboard.

Her junior year would be when Dougherty went from an in-state sensation to a national phenomenon. Her track and field credentials are virtually unmatched in the history of Iowa state track and field. She is the only girl in state history to be listed in the top 25 all-time list in four individual events (200 meters-20th, 400 meters-6th, 400 meter hurdles-7th, and 800 meters-5th). She won the state 400 meters in a state meet record time of 55.41 seconds. She again anchored the 4 x 400 meter relay team and this time they won the state championship and shattered the state record time by nearly four seconds. She finished third in the state in the 400 meter hurdles and placed fourth in the 800 meters. At Drake earlier that spring she won the 400 meter hurdles and anchored the 4 x 800 meter relay team that also won first place. By winning four of eleven events at Drake last year the East High Girl’s team finished one event shy of setting a new Drake team record as well. She ended her junior year with a treasure trove of accomplishments. She holds the city record in the 200 meters, 400 meters, 400 meter hurdles, and 300 meter hurdles and is a member on city record holding relay teams in the 4 x 800 and the 4 x 400 meter relay. She holds school records in the 200 meters, 400 meters, 400 meter hurdles, and 300 meter hurdles as well as sprint medley relay, 4 x 400 meter relay, and 4 x 800 meter relay.

Following her high school track season last spring she headed to Eugene, Oregon and placed fifth in the 800 meters at the 2009 USA Track and Field Junior Nationals. It wasn’t her first taste of national competition. In 2006 Dougherty won both the 400 and 800 meters at the Junior Olympics in Baltimore, Maryland. She ended the 2009 track season ranked 5th nationally in the 800 meters, 9th nationally in the 400 meter hurdles, and 23rd nationally in the 400 meter among junior competitors. Last summer also brought a change in her future plans as well. Newly appointed UNI Head Track Coach Travis Geopfert had resigned his position at UNI and accepted a job at the University of Arkansas as the field events coach. When Dougherty learned of the change at UNI she decided to re-open her recruitment and opened the floodgates of college interest. It was after a busy fall of school visits and college research into such school as Iowa, Oklahoma State, Arizona State, and Arkansas that she finally settled on the University of Nebraska, due in large part to the fact that her parents can watch her compete on a regular basis. She will likely run the 400 meter hurdles and the open 800 at Nebraska.

Her senior season has been much the same. In a pre-Drake tune-up Dougherty grabbed titles in the open 200, sprint medley relay, and the 4 x 400 meter relay. At the Shilling Co-Ed Invitational in LeMars, Dougherty ran a state best 1:02.4 in the 400 hurdles. It was a unique situation for Ellen as she ran “unattached” as her teammates were in Yankton competing. Dougherty had limited time and events to qualify for Drake and defend her 400 meter hurdle crown which forced her to compete in LeMars on her own. At Drake Dougherty competed in the maximum number of four events (the 800 meters, 400 meter hurdles, 4 x 400 meter relay, and the final leg of the 800 meter sprint medley) and her results were sensational as per usual. In the highly contested 800 meters, Dougherty ran a 2:11.81 good enough to win virtually every 800 meters race in the 31 year history of the event, however this year it was good enough for only 2nd place thanks to her teammate Shelby Houlihan who ran a Drake record time (2:09.22). Dougherty also was defeated in the 400 meter hurdles and settled for 2nd. The 800 meter sprint medley relay also fell just short of victory finishing 2nd as she approached the final relay event of her Drake Relay high school career. Triumph didn’t elude Ellen for long as she and her teammates captured the 4 x 400 relay crown.

Dougherty has only padded her resume during her senior spring track season. She remains focused on getting faster in every event but especially the 800 meters. Her goals include breaking a minute in the 400 hurdles and to one day run professionally. Given her accomplishments to date, imagining Dougherty’s name among the nation’s and world’s elite doesn’t seem so farfetched. If that happens, she will likely return to the famous blue track and join the lengthy list of legends of the Drake Relays.