DES MOINES, IOWA – Jesse Williams, coming off his highest world ranking ever at No. 4, will return to defend his title in the Drake Relays men's invitational high jump which will be held at 3p.m. during the Saturday, April 24, session of the Drake Relays.

The field will feature five of the top 10 ranked high jumpers in the United States including Williams, who is ranked No. 1, followed by Andra Manson, No. 2, Tora Harris, No. 3 and Kevin Moffatt, No. 4.  Former NCAA champ Scott Sellers, who was ranked No. 8 ,and Joe Kindred, who was ranked No. 9 last year, also are entered.

Williams and Manson competed in the 2008 Olympics, while Harris high jumped in the 2004 Olympics.

There is a strong international flavor at Drake with Mickael Hanany from France, who competed in the 2008 Olympics and was fifth at the 2009 World Championships;  Trevor Barry from the Bahamas, Bayo Adio from Nigeria, Henderson Dottin from Barbados.

Other jumpers in the field include Garrett Huyler, who was eighth at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor meet as a senior at Cornell; Paul Klemic, who has gone seven feet 4.5 inches; Will Littleton, who was fifth in the 2010 U.S. Indoor Championship at 7-4.25.

Williams was fifth at the 2010 World Indoor Championships and won the 2010 U.S. Indoor Championships at 7-8. He set a personal best of 7-8.75 at Banska Bystrica, Croatia, on Feb. 11.

Williams won the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials earning a ticket to Beijing, China. He dominated the college scene as a senior at Southern Cal winning the 2006 NCAA indoor and outdoor titles. He also won the 2005 NCAA outdoor crown.

Manson broke into the world rankings for the first time in 2009 at No. 9. He won the 2008 and 2009 U.S. Indoor Championship, while finishing runner-up at the 2009 U.S. Outdoor Championship, He finished ninth at the 2009 World Outdoor Championship.

He posted the highest clearance in the world in 2009 of 7-8.5 on April 4 at the Texas Relays. He made his first Olympic team with his runner-up finish at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials. He won the 2004 NCAA outdoor title competing at Texas.

Harris, who was ranked No. 1 in the U.S. in 2002 and 2006,  captured outdoor crowns at the 2006 and 2009 Championships, while winning the 2007 U.S. Indoor Championship. As a senior at Princeton, he swept crowns at the 2002 U.S. Indoor and Outdoor Championships. He has a personal best of 7-7.75 set in 2006 when he was ranked No. 8 in the world.

Hanany owns the Drake Stadium record in the high jump with a personal best of  7-7.25 set the last time he competed in Des Moines in 2008 when he won the NCAA Outdoor meet as a senior at Texas-El Paso. He won the French Indoor Championships on Feb. 27 at 7-5.75.

Moffatt owns a personal best of 7-6.5 set en route to a second-place finish at the 2006 U.S. Outdoor Championships. He was second at the 2009 U.S. Outdoor Championship and tied for 11th at the 2009 World Outdoor Championship. He has been ranked in the top 10 in the U.S. since his freshman year at Morehouse in 2004. He was sixth in the 2010 U.S. Indoor Championships.

Sellers won the NCAA indoor title in 2009 as a senior at Kansas State jumping 7-4.5.  He closed out his college career winning the 2009 NCAA outdoor crown. He has a personal best of 7-7.75 set en route to winning the 2007 Big 12 Conference outdoor title.

Competing for St. Augustine's, Kindred won the Penn Relays in 2009 as well as the NCAA Division II indoor and outdoor titles.

Barry, who has a personal best of 7-5.75, is coming off a season best of 7-3.75 at the World Indoor Championships in Doha,  March 12. He also competed in the 2009 and 2010 World Outdoor Championships.

Dottin is the national indoor and outdoor record holder in the high jump for Barbados with a personal best of 7-4.5. He was seventh in the 2003 Pan American Games.

Adio has a personal best of 7-2.5 set in 2007 as senior at Northwest Missouri State.

Littleton was fourth at the Texas Relays April 3, soaring 7-1. He was an NCAA Division II outdoor champ at Angelo State in 2003 and 2004. He has a personal best of 7-5.75 in 2007. 

Huyler, who has a personal best of 7-3, was 10th at the 2009 U.S. Outdoor Championships and eighth at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor meet as a senior at Cornell.

Klemic won the long jump at the 2005 NCAA Division III outdoor meet and was third in the high jump