DES MOINES, IOWA – Two-time Olympian Derek Miles, who was ranked No. 5 in the world last year, will be seeking his third straight Drake Relays invitational pole vault title when the event starts at 2:30 p.m during the Saturday, April 24 session of America's Athletic Classic.

There are three other nationally ranked vaulters in the meet: Jeremy Scott, No. 2; Mark Hollis, No. 7 and Darren Niedermeyer, No. 8. Jake Arnold, who was ranked No. 4 in the U.S. in the decathlon, also will compete
Giovanni Lanaro from Mexico, who was fourth in the 2006 World Indoor Championship also is entered in the meet.

Miles was fourth in the pole vault at the 2010 World Indoor Championship. Both Miles and Scott owned the fourth best pole vault mark in the world in 2009 at 19 feet 1 inch.

Mitch Greeley and Daniel Ryland. who were fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 2010 U.S. Indoor Championship, also will compete. Ryland has a personal best of 19-2.25 set indoors in 2005. He was eighth in the 2009 U.S. Outdoor Championship.

Brian Mondschein, who was second in the 2009 U.S. Indoor Championship, and Rory Quiller, who has vaulted 18-6.5, round out the field. Mondschein has a personal best of 18-5.5. Mondschein won Atlantic Coast Conference outdoor titles in 2005 and 2006, while finishing second in the 2005 NCAA Outdoor meet.

Miles, who has been ranked No. 1 in the U.S. since 2008, was fourth in the 2008 Olympics. Miles, who has twice soared 19-2.5, won his first ever U.S. outdoor championship when he won the 2008 Olympic Trials. He tied for second at the 2009 U.S. Outdoor Championship.

Miles won his first U.S. title at the 2003 Indoor Championship and was the top finisher at the World Outdoor Championship later that summer. He built on that momentum to make his first Olympic team in 2004.

Scott, who competed in the 2009 World Outdoor Championship, was second at the 2009 U.S. Outdoor Championship at 18-10.25 and finished fourth in the 2010 U.S. Indoor Championship. He won the 2009 U.S> Indoor title.

Hollis, who won the 2009 Drake Relays Pole Vault in the Mall, was fifth in the 2009 U.S. Outdoor Championship. He was seventh in the 2010 U.S. Indoor Championship.

Niedermeyer finished third in the 2009 and 2010 U.S. Indoor Championship.  He has a personal best of 18-8.25 set last year.

Arnold captured the 2010 U.S. Heptathlon title and was third in the decathlon at the 2009 U.S. Championships earning a ticket to the World Championship. Arnold, who has a personal best of 17-5 in the pole vault, was fourth in the decathlon in the 2008 U.S. Olympic T