DES MOINES, IOWA – Lolo Jones will return to the Drake Relays to defend her crown in the women's 100-meter hurdles for the third straight year during the Saturday, April 28 session, of the Drake Relays.
But this time around she will be wearing a new title – reigning U.S. indoor champion after capturing the 60-meter hurdles at the U.S. Indoor Championships Feb. 25 in Boston, Mass. She won her first ever national title in 7.88 seconds.
Jones hopes to ride the momentum of her best season yet, breaking into the world rankings for the first time in her career. She was ranked No. 7 in the world and No. 4 in the U.S. in 2006 by Track and Field News. She ran a personal best of 12.56 to win a Grand Prix meet at Heusden in The Netherlands in 2006 and finished sixth in the World Athletics Final in 12.76.
Jones won the 100 hurdles at the 2006 Drake Relays in 12.95, just off the Drake Relays record of 12.93 that she set in 2005.
Jones, 24, made a conspicuous return to the 2005 Drake Relays by setting a meet record 12.93 seconds in the event, while beating then two-time world champion Perdita Felicien, who finished third.
It marked the first appearance by Jones at the Drake Relays since 2000 when she won the high school girls invitational 100-meter dash (12.05) as a senior at Des Moines Roosevelt. She holds the Iowa all-time high school hurdles record of 13.4 as a junior in 1999.
Jones was third in the 60 hurdles at the 2006 U.S. Indoor Championships and fifth in the 100 hurdles at the 2006 U.S. Outdoor Championships. She posted a personal indoor best of 7.89 in Dusseldorf, Germany. She was fourth at the 2005 U.S. Outdoor Championships.
Her victory at the Drake Relays ignited a 2005 season in which she finished ranked fifth in the U.S. by Track and Field News, which was her highest ranking ever.
Jones was ranked No. 10 in the U.S. in 2004 and advanced to the semifinal heat of the U.S. Olympic Trials. She ran a then personal best of 12.77 en route to finishing fourth at the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Championships. She was ranked No. 8 in the U.S. as a sophomore collegian at Louisiana State.
An 11-time NCAA All-American, Jones ran the third leg on Louisiana State's 4x100 relay team which won the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Championships in 42.61 which ranks as the third fastest in collegiate history.
Jones was named the Gatorade Midwest Athlete of the Year in Iowa as a high school senior. She also anchored Roosevelt to a Drake Relays victory in the high school girls' 4x100 relay in 1998.
Jones helped Louisiana State to its third straight NCAA Indoor Track Championships team title in 2004 by finishing second in the 60 hurdles with a personal best tying time of 8.00.
Jones ran on the LSU foursome, which set an American collegiate record at low altitude with a time of 42.55 seconds in winning the 4x100 relay at the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championship in Sacramento, Calif.
She won the 60 hurdles at the 2004 Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships, as well as the 100 hurdles at the 2004 SEC Outdoor meet, while running on the winning 4x100 relay.
She capped off an undefeated junior indoor campaign in the 60 hurdles by winning the 2003 NCAA Indoor Championships. She became just the fifth woman in SEC history and the first runner from LSU to win back-to-back hurdle titles at the conference meet.
Jones was second at the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 100 hurdles (13.02). She also ran on the 4x100 relay team, which finished second at the NCAA Championships. She was fourth in the 60 hurdles (8.05) at the 2002 NCAA Indoor meet.
