AMES, IOWA ? Drake defended its title in the women's distance medley relay to highlight the first day of action at the Iowa State Open track and field meet Friday.

The relay, comprised of sophomore Casey McDermott (Newton, Iowa), junior Caitlin Able (Aurora, Colo.), sophomore Kara McCartney (Elgin, Iowa) and senior Nicole Braunsdorf (St. Francis, Wis.), was clocked in 11 minutes 51.93 seconds.

"Nicole ran a great anchor leg in 4 minutes 50 seconds," said Drake head coach Natasha Kaiser Brown. "She usually runs around a 5:01. This was the first indoor meet for our distance runners so we just had everyone line up and compete. We really didn't talk about defending the relay at all."

Kaiser-Brown was equally impressed by Drake's second unit which finished fourth in the women's distance medley relay in 12:35.64.

Freshman Elizabeth Dunn (Harvard, Mass.), sophomore Ari Curtis (Fort Collins, Colo.), sophomore Clarrisa LaFlora (Kewanee, Ill.) and junior Courtney Heinz (St. Paul, Minn.) ran on the unit.

Sophomore Lindsay Smith (Lakeville, Minn.) was fourth in the women's non-seeded 5,000-meter run in 19:10.12, while senior Kristin Looney (Evergreen Park, Ill.) was eighth in 19:32.81.

Competition at the Lied Recreation Center will resume Saturday at 10:25 a.m. with the women's 3,000-meter run. Admission is free.