DES MOINES, Iowa -- A world leading mark, a top national high school performance and a race that eclipsed a 40-year-old record punctuated the final day of the 114th running of the Drake Relays presented by Xtream powered by Mediacom on Saturday.
John Reniewicki's assault on Steve Scott's 1984 record in the men's invitational 1,500 highlighted 14 records that were set Saturday, pushing the three-day total to 28.
After a year's absence, Kentucky returned to Drake Stadium and won a combined eight events while setting a Drake Relays record of 38.66 seconds in the men's university 4x100 relay — the No. 3 collegiate time nationally this spring.
Payton Otterdahl followed his Team Shot Put Showcase victory in the Drake Fieldhouse on Wednesday night with a series of consistent throws in winning the men's WACT invitational event in Drake Stadium. Otterdahl sent five throws beyond 70 feet and won with a mark of 72-7 3/4 (22.14m) – the best outdoor effort in the world this year. The 2021 Olympic finalist finished fifth at the 2023 World Championships.
Four other throwers topped 70 feet in the competition: Roger Steen at 71-2 (21.69m), Rajindra Campbell at 70-9 (21.56m), Jordan Geist at 70-5 1/4 (21.47m) and Chuk Enekwechi at 70-3 3/4 (21.43m).
Steve Scott's 40-year-old Drake Relays record in the men's invitational 1,500 stands no more. Not just one but four runners went faster than his 1984 record as John Reniewicki led a parade of speed across the finish line. Reniewicki, the runner-up at the USATF Road Mile in downtown Des Moines on Tuesday night, set the record with his winning time of 3:36.57 in the WACT event, his best time ever. Not only that, but he also beat the runner who got the best of him in the Road Mile, Vince Ciatti. Scott had set the record at 3:38.27, which also was the Drake Stadium record. Ciatti finished second in 3:36.57; Abe Alvarado, a U.S. Olympic Trials semifinalist in 2021, came in third at 3:37.56 and Kenyan Justin Kipkoech slipped under the old record with his fourth-place time of 3:37.78.
"It means everything, breaking a record that old and historic," Reniewicki said. "It makes it that much more fun. After finishing runner-up Tuesday, it felt good to get back at him (Ciatti)."
Drake's Blue Oval continues to serve as a fast ground for Kentucky, which captured this year Relays Cup in both the men's and women's university divisions under coach Lonnie Green, a member of the Drake Relays Coaches Hall of Fame. It's the second Relays Cup for the Kentucky women, who also won in 2022.
The Wildcats capped the weekend with sweeps in the university 4x100 and 4x400 relays. The men followed their record in the 4x100 with a winning time of 3:03.06 in the university 4x400 relay. The women ran 44.38 in the 4x100 and 3:31.88 in the 4x400 after two other relay victories earlier.
Sydney Steely charged from behind to give the Wildcats a victory in the sprint medley in 3:46.53. That came after they ran a world best 8:27.94 to win the university 4x800 relay on Friday night. The program's other Relays titles came courtesy of Alexander Chukwukelu in the men's university-college 110 hurdles and Charity Hufnagel in the women's university-college high jump.
Most of Kentucky's success at Drake has come during Green's tenure. His athletes also won eight titles at the 2019 Drake Relays.
Notre Dame Sets Second Record
The Notre Dame women were impressive in two relay wins that produced meet and stadium records in both. The Irish got victory No. 2 on Saturday when Olivia Markezich anchored a win in the distance medley relay in 10:54.50, the sixth-fastest time in the world this year. Utah was a distant second in 11:04.57.
On Friday, Markezich anchored Notre Dame to a record-setting victory in the 4x1600 relay.
Bradley won the men's distance medley in 9:43.65, the Braves' first Drake Relays victory in the event.
Annie Rodenfels charged to the lead at the start and never gave it up in beating a strong field and setting a Relays record in the WACT women's steeplechase. Rodenfels ran a smooth race throughout and finished in 9:31.03 to knock a second-and-a-half off the old record and move to No. 14 in the world this year.
Now running for the Boston Athletic Association, Rodenfels was a two-time NCAA Division III champion at Centre College in Kentucky and finished sixth at the 2022 USA Championships. American Angelina Ellis, who came in ranked No. 13 in the world, finished second in 9:35.62. Aneta Konieczek, a two-time national champion in Poland and a Tokyo Olympian, was third in 9:38.52.
Minnesota freshman Angelos Mantzouranis won't forget his first appearance at the Drake Relays. The 19-year-old from Athens, Greece, set a Relays record in the men's university invitational championship hammer throw with a personal best of 247-10 (75.55m), bettering the previous mark of 246-11 by his teammate at Minnesota, Kostas Zaltos, who is being redshirted this outdoor season.
The throw by Mantzouranis, who finished fourth at the 2023 Greece Senior National Championships, ranks No. 3 on the NCAA Division I performance list this spring.
K.C. Lightfoot's first Drake Relays pole vault title lifted him to the No. 4 spot on the world outdoor list this year. Lightfoot, the American record holder, cleared 19-2 (5.84) to win the men's WACT event. He fell three-fourths of an inch short of the Relays record and ended the competition when he missed three times at 19-8 1/4 (6.00m).
Cole Walsh, who earned multiple All-America honors during his collegiate days at Oregon, finished second and Kentucky's Keaton Daniel, a five-time SEC champion, was third. Both cleared 18-6 1/2 (5.65m), with Walsh getting the edge on fewer misses.
Sember Spoils Jones Homecoming
Longtime Relays favorite Lolo Jones returned to competition at Drake Stadium for the first time since 2014 and finished fifth in the women's WACT 100 hurdles, two days after she was inducted into the Drake Relays Athletes Hall of Fame.
Great Britain's Cindy Sember, who like Jones is a two-time Olympian, won the race in 12.59, though Jones still received the loudest ovation from the crowd. Demisha Roswell, a three-time Big 12 champion while at Texas Tech, edged Talie Bonds for second in a photo finish, with both getting a time of 12.68.
"I'm very, very happy with the win," said Sember, who has won four Drake Relays titles in her career, including two as a collegian at Michigan. "It's still early in the season. I've been working on my strength in the weight room. I've been here so many times as a collegian and pro ... it's always great coming back."
Jones, a four-time Drake Relays champion and now a world champion in bobsled, ran 13.10.
"I wish I could have done better," said Jones, 41. "This has been my home track at every stage of my life. I used to walk to track practice here in the summers when I was young. My training has been going great. I still have 12.9 in my legs, but the races (track, bobsled) are a whole different ballgame. My start is killing me."
Carrying their times out to three decimal places, Roswell had an edge of six-thousandths of a second over Bonds. Christina Clemons, a semifinalist in the Tokyo Olympics, was fourth in 12.69.
Aurora Rynda, the 2023 Canadian outdoor 800 runner up, came from behind in the last 100 meters to clip Bradley's Julia Nielsen to win the WACT Women's Invitational 800 in 2:00.97, just two hundredths of a second better than Nielsen, who was clocked in a personal best 2:00.99.
"I was happy I finished strong," said Rynda, who won three straight Big Ten Conference outdoor 800 titles at Michigan from 2021-2023.
Nielsen, the 2004 Swedish indoor 800 runner-up, won this year's Missouri Valley Conference indoor 800 and mile for Bradley. Her 2:00.99 performance ranks No. 6 on the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Division I list.
Former Texas A&M runner Deshae Wise burst past the leaders out of Lane 7 to win at the wire and claim the Relays flag in the WACT women's 400 hurdles. Wise, a finalist at the 2022 NCAA championships, ran 55.52 to win by two-tenths of a second and move into the world rankings at No. 9.
Lauren Hoffman, a silver medalist for the U.S. in the 4x400 relay at this year's World Indoor Championships, had the lead coming off the final hurdle but could not hold off the fast-closing Wise. She finished second in 55.72. Jessica Wright, sixth at the USATF Outdoor Championships last summer, was third in 55.78.
Veteran Aldrich Bailey, the fourth-place finisher at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials, pulled ahead with 40 meters to go and held on to win the WACT men's 400 hurdles. Bailey, coming off victories at the Texas Relays and Michael Johnson Invitational, finished in 48.42, the No. 8 time in the world. American Trevor Bassitt, bronze medalist at the 2022 World Championships, was second in 48.93 and Shakeem Hall-Smith, a three-time Bahamian national champion, got third in 48.93.
"Great crowd...great weather," said Bailey. "It's early, but this will boost my confidence. I want to feel like this at the Olympic Trials. I got fourth the last time (2021)."
NCAA Champ Wins Invitational Women's Shot Put
Ole Miss senior Jalani Davis beat a field loaded with top throwers to win the women's WACT invitational shot put. Davis, the NCAA indoor weight throw champion this year, threw 59-9 3/4 (18.23m) to capture the Relays flag, falling just short of her personal best of 61-2 (18.64).
Nebraska's Axelina Johansson, the reigning NCAA outdoor champion, finished second at 58-11 1/2 (17.97m). American Jessica Ramsey, the 2021 Olympic Trials champion and an Olympic finalist, was third at 58-6 3/4 (17.85m). Davis is coached by Connie Price-Smith, a member of the Drake Relays Athletes Hall of Fame.
Darek Hackett of Air Force picked up his second Drake Relays title of the weekend when he anchored the Falcons to a victory in the men's university-college shuttle hurdle relay. Hackett held off Northern Iowa anchor Hunter Manock to bring his team home in 57.33. It was the Falcons' first victory in the event at Drake since they went back-to-back in 1975 and '76. They also won in 1963. Hackett won the university-college 400 hurdles on Friday.
South Dakota sprinter Erin Kinney became a double winner with her incredibly narrow victory in the women's university-college 100. Kinney edged Kentucky's Victoria Perrow by one-thousandth of a second after both were timed in 11.51. Taken to the thousandths, it came out to 11.502 for Kinney and 11.503 for Perrow. Rose Ogbuli of Lewis was third in 11.62. On Friday night, Kinney ran the first leg in helping South Dakota win the university-college 4x200.
The Augustana (S.D.) women kept rolling in the college distance medley relay, winning for the sixth straight year and ninth time overall. Freshman Ashley Overgaauw held off Khot Juac of Sioux Falls in the final lap – the two schools are about a mile apart – to take the Vikings to the finish in 11:45.82. Sioux Falls was clocked in 11:50.89 and Minnesota State finished third in 11:50.89. The Augustana victory came two days after coach Tracy Hellman was inducted into the Drake Relays Coaches Hall of Fame.
Minnesota State swept both the Relays Cups in the college men's and women's division. Pleasant Valley won the Relays Cup in the high school girls, Ankeny captured the Relays Cup in the high school boys division.
Five High School Records Set
Pleasant Valley obliterated two major records in running away from the competition to win the girls 4x800 relay. The Spartans just missed becoming the first Iowa team to run under 9 minutes, finishing in 9:01.47 for a Relays record and the all-time Iowa best. It's also the No. 4 time in the country this spring.
Anchor Grace Boleyn got the baton with a 30-meter lead and stretched it out with her 2:10.98 carry over the final two laps. Dallas Center-Grimes finished second in 9:14.62, which puts the Tigers at No. 12 on the all-time list. The old Relays record was 9:10.38 by Southeast Polk in 2019 and the previous all-time best was 9:09.09 by Iowa City West back in 2001.
Not to be outdone, Ankeny broke one of the oldest Relays records in the high school competition in winning the boys 4x800 relay and posting the fastest time in the country this year. With Ethan Zuber running a 1:51.62 anchor, the Hawks put up a time of 7:39.54, which is No. 3 on the state's all-time list. They erased the Relays record of 7:45.63 set by Marshalltown in 1985. Dowling Catholic was second in 7:43.16.
They had to sit through a delay of almost three hours, but it certainly did not bother Addison Dorenkamp and Tony Anania. Dorenkamp, a senior at West Des Moines Valley, set a Relays record and just missed the state's all-time best in winning the girls 1,500 in 4:26.93. It was her second Relays record of the weekend after her 9:23.69 clocking in the 3000 on Thursday. She eclipsed the 1500 record held by IGHSAU Hall of Famer Katie Flood and almost topped another Hall of Famer, Shelby Houlihan, for the all-time best. Houlihan ran 4:26.39 in 2011.
Anania, a junior at Norwalk, won the boys 1600 in 4:06.54 to break the record of 4:10.76 that Linn-Mar's Josh Evans set in 2014. Anania's performance lifted him to No. 4 on the state's all-time list.
Clear Lake junior Reese Brownlee became a double winner with her victory in the girls 400 hurdles. Brownlee, the long jump champion on Friday, circled the Blue Oval in the hurdles event in 1:00.75, which puts her at No. 4 on the state's all-time list. Van Meter's Eden Moore finished second in 1:02.55. Brownlee also finished second in the 400 on Friday night.
Cedar Falls and Dowling Catholic placed high on the state's all-time lists with their victories in the shuttle hurdle relay. A swift anchor by Tyler Kanaga carried Cedar Falls to a 57.89 clocking in the boys race. It's the first Relays title for the Tigers in the event and puts them at No. 5 on the all-time list. Dowling Catholic moved to No. 7 on the all-time list with its victory in the girls race in 1:01.43. The Maroons won for the second straight year and third time overall.
