ATHENS, Ga. - The Drake University track and field teams opened the outdoor season by winning eight events at the Georgia Relays, March 18-19, at Spec Towns Track in Athens, Ga.

In two of those events, both the men's and women's 200 meters, the Bulldogs swept the top four spots to start the outdoor campaign.

Mary Young (Urbandale, Iowa) led the women's team with a pair of wins in the 200 meters in 25.35 and the 100-meter hurdles in 14.00. Her first-place showing helped lead a Drake sweep of the top four spots in 200 meters. She also ran the third leg on the team's first-place 4x100-meter relay and was second in the 400-meter hurdles. Joining her on that relay was Rai Ahmed-Green (Irvine, Calif.), Taryn Rolle (Nassau, Bahamas) and Destani Welch (Des Moines, Iowa). 

All three had stellar days with Rolle also winning the long and triple jumps with marks of 17-10.25 and 38-1.5 respectively. Ahmed-Green finished in second in the 200 meters in 25.35 and was fourth in the 400 meters in 59.48. Welch finished second in the 100-meter hurdles in 14.29.

Virginia Hill (Haymarket, Va.) also had a strong showing with by winning the 400-meter hurdles in 1:00.84 and taking third-place in the 200 meters in 25.81.

The men's team enjoyed similar success with Demetrius Shelton (Markham, Ill.) winning the 200 meters in 21.73 followed by Pierce Vincent (Fayetteville, Ga.) in second in 22.10 to lead four Bulldogs to the top four spots in the race. Aaron Chier came in third, followed by Hudson Priebe (Chamberlain, S.D.) in fourth. Vincent also finished second in the 100 meters in 10.47 while Priebe enjoyed great success in the hurdles.

The sophomore won the 110-meter hurdles 14.97 and took second, but was the first collegiate competitor, in the 400-meter hurdles in 54.09. 

The Bulldogs return to action next weekend for their annual trip to Fayetteville, Ark., to compete in the Arkansas Spring Invitational.