April 25, 2013

Drake Relays Info

Columbia, Mo. - Thirty-seven Tigers will be departing today for Des Moines, IA, where the 104th Drake Relays is underway.  With almost 8,000 athletes ranging from high school to to the elite professionals, Drake has long been known as one of the premier sporting events in the world.  A few athletes have already kicked off the weekend, though, as members of the throws squad traveled to Emporia State University and Simpson College to continue solidifying spots at the NCAA Preliminary Round next month.

First up for the Tiger throwers was the Mid-Week Open at Emporia State (Emporia, KS), where the squad earned four event wins, two season bests and one overall PR.  Junior Katie Evans came away with a 5th place finish in the hammer throw after tossing a PR mark of 52.58m (172-6).  Senior Cortni Ervin and sophomore Kearsten Peoples took 1-2 in the shot put competition, both throwing season best marks of 15.39m (50-6) and 17.20m (56-5), respectively.  On the men's side, junior Alex McDonald also came away with a season best mark, taking the discus win in 51.53m (169-0.75)

The throwers are in Indianola, IA, at the Simpson College Kip Janvrin Open today for one last competition before Drake Relays.  Sophomore Jill Rushin, Peoples, Evans, and McDonald are slated to compete in the discus competition, set to go off at 2:00 pm.

Also competing today is the first race of the Drake Relays for the Tigers, with freshman Bryant Blahnik entered in the 10k at 8:10 pm.  Tomorrow will begin the rest of the Drake Relays performances, starting at 9:45 am with freshman Kyle Smith in the 110m hurdles.

Drake Relays Friday Schedule

110m Hurdles - 9:45 a.m			High Jump - 1:00 p.m
	Kyle Smith		Morgan Whitson
Pole Vault - 10:00 a.m			Pole Vault - 1:15 p.m
Katrine Haarklau				Kyle Wessel
Javelin - 10:45 a.m			Long Jump - 1:30 p.m
	Macauley Garton			Malcolm Pennix
4x100m Relay - 10:58 a.m			Javelin - 2:00 p.m
Chelsea Stevens Cara Forte Lauren Flaker Sha'Rone Greenlaw	Markesh Woodson Malcolm Pennix Tre Chambers Tony Carodine		Sandra Hampton Bethany Pfeiffer Hailey Twietmeyer
Shot Put - 11:30 a.m			Discus - 2:00 p.m
Cortni Ervin Laura Greenfield Kearsten Peoples Katie Evans Jill Rushin			Kearsten Peoples Morgan Whitson Katie Evans Jill Rushin
100m Dash - 12:33 p.m			4x400m Relay - 2:52 p.m
	Markesh Woodson		Sha'Rone Greenlaw Jasmine Webb Lauren Flaker Cara Forte Kelcy Vanarsdall

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