DES MOINES, Iowa — Five Drake Relays records, including an Iowa all-time best high school performance, highlighted the first day of the 114th running of the Drake Relays presented by Xtream powered by Mediacom on Thursday.
 
Denzel Comenentia, a six-time national champ from The Netherlands, set a Drake Relays record in the WACT men's invitational hammer throw of 252 feet (76.80m) on his last attempt, breaking the previous mark by four inches set in 2023 by U.S. Olympian Rudy Winkler, the American record holder in the event. Comenentia won the 2018 NCAA title in the hammer throw and shot put competing for Georgia. 
 
Germany's Till Steinforth closed out the meet becoming just the second athlete in Drake Relays history to score more than 8,000 points in the decathlon joining 2000 U.S. Olympian Kip Janvrin who accomplished the feat five times (1990 and 1995-1998) in winning Drake Relays titles.
 
Steinforth's 8,053-point total was the sixth best decathlon mark in the world in 2024. Steinforth won the 110 hurdles (14.30), the pole vault (15-9) and javelin (193-7) on the final day of competition. Entering the final event with 7,512 points, Steinforth looked to have Janvrin's Drake Relays record of 8,198 points within reach before fading to seventh in the 1,500 (5:03.22).
 
"It was a long two days…really long, but I enjoyed it. The weather was good and I'm overall satisfied with my performance." said Steinforth, who is being redshirted by Nebraska for the 2024 outdoor campaign after finishing third in the heptathlon at the 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships. A native of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, Steinforth's personal best is 8,064 points en route to winning the 2023 Big Ten Conference outdoor title. He also finished seventh in the long jump at the recent NCAA Indoor Championships.  
 
There was a strong international flavor in the WACT Invitational men's hammer throw with athletes from five countries competing. Kostas Zaltos from Greece, who won the 2023 Drake Relays university-college men's javelin title performing for Minnesota, placed second at 242-2 (73.83m). Jordan Geist, who swept the 2023 NCAA indoor and outdoor shot put crowns competing for Arizona, was third at 240-7 (73.34m). Geist earned the bronze medal in the shot put at the 2023 Pan American Games.

2021 U.S. Olympian Alex Young, a finalist in the 2022 World Championships, was fifth at 235-8 (71.85m). Ole Miss sophomore Tarik Robinson-O'Hagan, who won the 2024 NCAA indoor shot put, placed sixth at 232-3 (70.81m). He is the lone thrower worldwide this outdoor season at 236-2 in the hammer and 65-7 in the shot put.
 
The inaugural women's WACT Invitational javelin turned into a repeat of last year's NCAA outdoor championships. Rhema Otabor, a University of Nebraska athlete from the Bahamas, won the first-year Drake Relays event with a throw of 193-1 (59.12m). Lianna Davidson, a junior at Texas A&M, finished second at 187-5 (57.13m). That was how they finished at the 2023 NCAA meet, where Otabor threw 195-2 (59.49m) and Davidson came in at 192-10 (55.56m).

Danish thrower Arthur Petersen won the inaugural men's WACT Invitational javelin with the second-best mark of his career. Petersen, the 2023 Big Ten champion with Nebraska and a five-time national champion in his home country, won the event with a throw of 261-7 (79.73m). Former Virginia standout Ethan Dabbs, the 2022 USA champion, was second at 254-2 (77.48m).
 
A consistent performance through the final three events carried former Colorado State athlete Lexie Keller to the heptathlon title. Keller finished second in each of those events – long jump, javelin and 800 – and wound up with 5,846 points over the two days of competition. She took a 49-point lead over Jordan Gray with her throw of 127-4 (38.82m) in the javelin and stayed in front with her 2:15.60 clocking in the 800. Gray, the bronze medalist in the 2023 Pan-American Games, did not run the 800, opening the door for Haley Rizek to finish second with 5,367 points. Jordyn Price took third with 5,036.
 
No one was close enough to push her, but it didn't matter for Addison Dorenkamp in the high school girls 3,000-meter run. The senior from West Des Moines Valley still set a Drake Relays record and achieved an Iowa all-time best with a time that was the second-fastest in the country this year. Dorenkamp moved to the lead at the start and ran away from the field, finishing in a blistering 9:23.69 for her first Relays title in the event. Pella's Marissa Ferrebee was second in 9:42.89 and Dubuque Hempstead's Julia Gehl took third in 9:57.80. Dorenkamp, who will continue her running career at Alabama, has won the last two Class 4A state championships in the 1,500 and 3,000. She will be the favorite in the Relays 1500 on Saturday afternoon.
 
The boys 3200 also ended with a Drake Relays record, sophomore Jaden Merrick of Cedar Falls winning in 8:55.14. Merrick needed a sprint to the finish to hold off Ankeny's Ethan Zuber, whose time of 8:56.28 also was faster than the previous record – 8:58.27 by Dallas Center-Grime's Aiden Ramsey in 2014. Merrick's performance moved him to No. 4 on the state's all-time list. Zuber checks in at No. 6.
 
Oklahoma Baptist raced to the fastest time in NCAA Division II this season in winning the college women's 4x800 relay. With Mekenzie Connell anchoring in 2:12.86, the Bison clocked 9:01.56 to win their fifth Drake Relays title in the event and first since 2012, tying them with Augustana, S.D., for the most in Relays history. Minnesota-Duluth was second in 9:09.72 and Loras third in 9:09.89.
 
Kansas Wesleyan followed up the swift effort by the Oklahoma Baptist women with the fastest NAIA time this spring in the men's college 4x800. The Coyotes ran 7:35.29 for their first Drake Relays championship in an event that has been run at the Relays since 1911. Carter Huyser, third in the 800 at the NAIA Indoor Championships this year, ran a fine 1:50.93 anchor to bring his team home. Cornerstone was second in 7:37.23.

Beth Grauer set a World ParaAthletics Americas regional record in the women's F34 seated shot put at 23-10 ¾ (7.28m)