Track & Field Adds 16 Student-Athletes

Diverse class covers nearly all disciplines with talented student-athletes from six states and four countries.

The Drake University cross country and track & field teams have added 16 student-athletes for the 2020-21 season, acting director Blake Boldon and acting head coach Asha Gibson announced Friday, May 1.

The standout class includes future student-athletes from six states and four international competitors.

Set to join the Bulldogs are:
Ayana Brown - Jumps/Sprints - (Aurora, Colo. / Aurora
Jack Burns - Middle Distance - Chicago, Ill. / Lane Tech
Luke Burrows - Middle Distance - Perth, Australia
Dyer Jarabek - Sprints - West Des Moines, Iowa / Dowling Catholic
Aziz JDay - Distance - Tunis, Tunisia
Austin Jentz - Throws - Platteville, Wis. / Platteville
Madysen Klebenow - Distance - Yorkville, Ill. / Yorkville
Alec Knepper - Middle Distance - Urbandale, Iowa / Urbandale
Reece Knepper - Middle Distance - Urbandale, Iowa / Urbandale
Lauren Low - Distance - Blue Springs, Mo. / Blue Springs South
Brooke Mullins - Distance - Queensland, Australia
Celine Ratulowski - Middle Distance - Lemont, Ill. / Lemont (St. Xavier)
Ryan Schweizer - Distance - West Des Moines, Iowa / Dowling Catholic (Notre Dame)
William Skinner - Sprints - Houston, Texas / St. John's
Barbara Vrhovac - Distance - Osijek, Croatia
Noah Wheeling - Distance - Fort Collins, Colo. / Fort Collins

Headlining the class is West Des Moines, Iowa, native and six-time individual Iowa state champion at Dowling Catholic, Ryan Schweizer. Schweizer joins the Bulldogs as a transfer from Notre Dame where he competed in portions of the last four seasons.

"His talent and ability are of course noteworthy and in a system that will keep him healthy and happy his potential is beyond phenomenal," said Jay Koloseus, acting head cross country coach and distance coach. "Ryan was obviously very heavily recruited, so getting him back home on the Blue Oval is massive for our program in Iowa, the midwest and beyond."

The younger brother of American distance standout Karissa Schweizer, Ryan won the 800, 1,600 and 3,200m at the Iowa State Championships in 2015 and 2016. He also anchored a pair of relay teams to titles those two years and owns the No. 1 1,600m time in Iowa history at 4:05.83 and the No. 2 time in the 800m at 1:50.30. Also on the Blue Oval, he claimed five Drake Relays titles. In cross country, he was the state champion in 2015 and runner-up as a junior in 2014.

Barbara Vrhovac is another distance standout that owns a personal best of 4:36 in the 1,500m and was the runner-up at the Croatian U23 National Championship. In 2018, she was Croatia's U18 National Champion in the 800m.

"Barbara comes to Drake as one of the best young Croatian women's distance athletes," Koloseus said. "She has amazing potential and will undoubtedly help lead a great young class."

A pair of Australians are included in the international signees, continuing Drake's recent tradition of recruiting talented Australian runners.

Luke Burrows is a middle-distance specialist who owns a personal best of 1:52 in the 800m and 3:50 in the 1,500m.

"Luke is awesomely talented and will bring great ability to the mid-distance group," Koloseus said. "He has recently focused on track exclusively and his potential is really incredible."

Fellow Australian Brooke Mullins was the Queensland Champion in the 1,500m, 3,000m and 3,000m-steeplechase. Her personal best of 11:00 in the steeplechase is a Queensland record and she owns best of 2:15 in the 800m, 4:43 in the 1,500m and 10:18 in the 3,000m.

"Brooke is a huge pick up out of Australia where she has won many championships and set records," Koloseus said. "We'll look to Mullins to also assist in setting the pace for the women's group."

Tunisian standout Aziz JDay was a U20 World Championships qualifier in the steeplechase for Tunisia with a personal best of 8:55 in the event.

"Aziz is one of the top steeplechase talents out there and a gem coming out of Tunisia," Koloseus said. "He's been mostly self-coached and adding him to a system and team will be a lot of fun."

Drake's throws program also received a boost with the signing of Austin Jentz, the Wisconsin state champion in the discus. Jentz also finished sixth in the shot put at the state meet and owns the Platteville school record in both the shot put and discus.

"Austin is a well-coached thrower with one heck of a work ethic," said Drake throws coach Zane Chapman. "He will be filling the void in men's shot and disc, and I'm anxious for him to add depth in the hammer throw as well. Austin will be in place to make an impact right away in his freshman year."

The Bulldogs' jumps/sprints crew added depth with Ayana Brown. She has finished in the top five in the long jump at the Colorado state championships in the previous two seasons.

"Ayana will be the spark we need in women's horizontal jumps," Gibson said. "She has solid speed, with the edge I look for in a jumper."

Gibson also added a trio of men's sprinters in local talent Dyer Jarabek and Texan William Skinner.

Jarabek was a two-time state qualifier at Dowling Catholic with an excellent academic pedigree and a personal best of 52.9 in the 400m.

"Dyer is a great local addition to the team," Gibson said. "He is a multi-sport athlete who will thrive with the singular dimensions of specific speed and power training."

Skinner owns personal best of 23.24 in the 200m and 52.7 in the 400m at St. John's High School in Houston, Texas.

"It is a pleasure to add William to the sprints squad," Gibson said. "He has a great training reputation and I look forward to his improvements over the course of his career at Drake."

The women's distance group continued to rebuild with the addition of a pair of standouts from Illinois and a Missouri native.

Celine Ratulowski is and 800-meter specialist from Lemont, Ill., that is transferring from St. Xavier University.

"Academically and athletically Celine will help the Bulldogs," Koloseus said. "As an 800m specialist, she will also be a huge value to Drake Relay teams."

Madysen Klebenow owns a personal best of 5:13 in the 1,600m and 2017 conference champion in the event.

"Mady joins Drake from a stellar high school program," Koloseus said. "She will bring talent and know-how to help shape a solid women's distance group."

That group is rounded out by Lauren Low, an all-state selection in track and two-time All-Missouri honoree in cross country. She owns a personal best of 5:22 in the 1,600m on the track.

"This great academic and cross country specialist will be a great addition to the women's team," Koloseus said. "As an all-state runner on a good team in high school, Lauren will help cultivate an even better winning mentality on and off the course."

The men's distance crew added depth as well with the addition of Reece and Alec Knepper from Urbandale, Iowa. The brothers were both Drake Relays qualifiers on Urbandale's 4x800m relay and have matching 2:03 personal bests in the 800m.

Jack Burns is also an 800-meter specialist from Chicago, Ill., that had the No. 2 time in the state as a junior at 1:56.

In the longer distances, Noah Wheeling, joins the team from Fort Collins, Colo., where he posted a personal best during the cross country season of 15:59 on a 5-kilometer course.

The coaching staff anticipates adding to this talented group of signees as they continue their offseason recruiting efforts for the 2020-21 season.

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Track & Field Adds 16 Student-Athletes

Diverse class covers nearly all disciplines with talented student-athletes from six states and four countries.