Wednesday, April 27, 2011
DES MOINES, Iowa--Olympic medalists Shereefa Lloyd and Mary
Wineberg headline the women's invitational 400-meter field at the 2011
Drake Relays. Scheduled for Saturday, April 30 at 3:31 p.m., the race also will
include last year's Drake Relays runner-up Angee
Henry and 2008 NCAA champion Shana
Cox.
Lloyd has won three of the past
four Relays 400-meter events, taking home the 2010 crown in 51.84. She won
previously in 2007 and '09, and finished second in '08. Lloyd earned a bronze
medal with the Jamaican 4x400 relay team at the 2008 Olympics, and twice earned
silver medals in the event at the World Championships (2007, '09).
Wineberg, who ran the first leg on the United States' 4x400 relay team that
won the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics, makes her second attempt at a Drake
Relays title. She placed third in her debut a year ago, in 53.01.
A veteran of international competition and regular medal-winner with the
U.S. 4x400 relay teams, Wineberg helped lead the U.S. to a gold medal at the
2007 World Outdoor Championship and was a member of the 4x400 relay teams that
won bronze and silver medals at the 2003 and 2006 World Indoor Championships.
She owns a personal best of 50.24 set in a third-place finish at the 2007 U.S.
Outdoor Championships.
Henry was narrowly edged out last year by Lloyd, finishing in 51.89,
five one-hundredths of a second behind Lloyd's 51.84. Henry came back to Drake
last June for the USATF Outdoor Championships and ran her personal-best 51.73
in a semifinal heat on the Blue Oval.
Also pushing this talented field is Cox, whose history at Drake Stadium
includes a 2008 NCAA championship in the 400 meters, one year after a
second-place showing in the event. Also a member of Penn State's national
runner-up 4x400 meter relay team in 2008, Cox is an 11-time All-American and
12-time Big 10 champion with a personal best of 50.84.
Cox recently set her indoor personal best in the 400, clocking 52:16 in
a second-place showing at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark.
Tickets for the
2011 Drake Relays are on sale now, and may be purchased online through the
official Drake Athletics website (www.GoDrakeBulldogs.com) or by calling (515)
271-DOGS (3647).