DES MOINES, Iowa – The Saturday session of the 2022 Drake Relays presented by Xtream powered by Mediacom saw three meet records established and one world-leading performance in front of a sellout crowd of 14,504 at Drake Stadium.
In addition to the record-setting performances, the University of Iowa's men's team captured the Relays Cup while Kentucky claimed the women's Relays Cup. The Relays Cup was the third for the Hawkeyes as they edged out the Kentucky men thanks to a victory in the sprint medley relay and a second-place finish in the 4x100m relay.
Kentucky's women went home with the hardware via wins in the 4x400m, 4x800m and sprint medley relays. Kentucky's men's and women's teams combined to win eight events at the 112th Drake Relays.
Dalilah Muhammad also rewrote the Drake Relays record book Saturday. She recorded one of the day's top performances in the invitational events with her win in the 400m hurdles. The former world record holder and 2016 Olympic gold medalist crossed the line in 53.88 to shatter the nine-year-old record of 54.41 set by Zuzana Hejnova in 2013. Muhammad's time is also the fastest in the world this season.
Saturday began with a broken record as Southeast Polk High School boys 4x100m team finished its preliminary heat in 41.82. The time bested Cedar Falls' previous record of 42.17 set in 2012. Southeast Polk returned to the track later in the day to win the event in 42.00.
The two Saturday records made for a total of nine Drake Relays established on the week.
Alison Dos Santos nearly matched Muhammad's hurdle performance in the men's 400m hurdles. Dos Santos, the defending Relays champion and Olympic bronze medalist, won the race in 48.41. His finish was the second-fastest time in the world this season and made him the eighth athlete to defend his Drake Relays 400m hurdle title successfully.
In the hurdles on the front stretch, reigning Olympic gold medalist Hansle Parchment clocked a 13.47 finish in the men's invitational 110m hurdles to cruise to his second Drake Relays victory and first since 2014. The favorite in the women's 100m hurdles, world leader Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, stumbled over the third hurdle to open the door for the field. Tia Jones sprinted through that door in 12.84 to win what has become one of the premier events at the Drake Relays.
Inside the Blue Oval, Ryan Crouser defended his Drake Relays title for the fourth-consecutive Relays in winning the invitational shot put. In his outdoor season debut, Crouser threw 70-11 ¾ (21.63m), a mark that ties him for No. 5 in the world.
In collegiate relays Saturday, Oklahoma State swept the distance medley relay races to mark the third time since 2015 a team has swept the events. OSU's Ryan Schoppe made up a deficit of nearly 6 seconds against Michigan in the anchor carry to give the men a victory in 9:40.60.
The OSU women continued their trend of Relays excellence as the Cowgirls ran 11:04.64 to outdistance runner-up Utah (11:17.92).
North Carolina A&T cruised to its second-straight win in the men's 4x400m relay as Olympic gold medalist Randolph Ross ran the second leg to help the Aggies finish in 3:05.60 to edge out Kentucky. However, the Wildcats avenged that in the women's race to win in 3:33.60 and defeat the defending champion Aggies.
University field events were highlighted by Iowa's James Carter becoming the first athlete in 16 years to win both the men's university-college long jump and triple jump. On Friday, Carter jumped 51-9 ¾ (15.79m) in the triple jump to cap his weekend after winning the long jump at 25-8 ¾ (7.84m).
In high school competitions, Dallas Center Grimes' Aidan Ramsey and Carlisle's Ainsley Erzen successfully finished the Drake Relays with a pair of individual titles. Ramsey ran down the field Saturday in the final 50 meters of the boys 1,600m with a time of 4:15.60 after winning the 3,200m Thursday night. Meanwhile, Erzen followed up her earlier 800m title with a 1,500m crown after taking the lead on the final lap to finish in 4:36.28. Erzen finished her decorated Drake Relays career with four Relay titles.
Aidan Ramsey of Dallas Center-Grimes and Carlisle's Ainsley Erzen became double winners with their victories in the 1600 and 1500 meters. Ramsey, who has signed with Drake, ran down Newton's Jackson Mace-Maynard in the final 50 meters to win the 1,600m in 4:15.96. Mace-Maynard, who won the 800 on Friday, clocked 4:16.27 to finish second. Ramsey won the 3200 on Thursday night.
Erzen added the girls 1500 title to her championship in the 800, which she won for the second straight year. She started in the middle of the pack, moved up gradually, then took the lead on the final lap, finishing in 4:36.28. Dowling Catholic's Addison Dorenkamp was second in 4:38.91. Dorenkamp also was the runner-up in the 3200. Erzen also won the 400 last year to finish her career with four Relays titles.
The high school girls hurdles continued to be the domain of Des Moines' western suburbs as Waukee Northwest's Mackenzie Carney won a second-straight girls 400m hurdles in 1:02.87 to give her four titles at this year's Drake Relays. She also anchored Northwest's shuttle hurdle relay team to a first-place finish of 1:01.86 that ranks No. 5 on the state's all-time list and won the 100m hurdles for the second-straight year. Carney also paced Northwest to a title in the 4x200m relay.
The Saturday session capped another successful Drake Relays presented by Xtream powered by Mediacom that saw a total of 36,847 fans stream through the Drake Stadium gates, including a sellout crowd of 14,504 Saturday.
