DES MOINES, Iowa – The 2025 Drake Relays will feature dozens of world-class athletes and several Olympic champions and medalists, but arguably the brightest stars in this year's Relays will be competing in the men's 400 and women's long jump.
"Drake Stadium and the fans that pack it are accustomed to watching the world's best athletes on an annual basis," said Blake Boldon, Franklin P. Johnson Director of the Drake Relays. "But this year that's taken up a notch. Not only do these fields feature two defending Olympic and Paralympic gold medalists, but also two of the most recognizable ambassadors for our sport in Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall. We're thrilled they committed to compete in Des Moines and are eager to watch them work."
Three-time American Paralympian Hunter Woodhall will highlight the men's 400 slate. Woodhall was a four-time NCAA All-American at the University of Arkansas before turning professional. Since then, he has won five World Championship medals and four Olympic medals including a 400m gold in Paris last year and a bronze at both the 2021 Tokyo Games and 2016 Rio Olympics. Woodhall currently owns a personal best time of 46.39.
Despite his T62 Paralympic status, Hunter will not be competing against other para athletes on the Blue Oval, Instead, Woodhall will race against a selection of world class 400 runners including Jamaican Olympians Sean Bailey and Zandrion Barnes, plus 4x400 World Champion Wil London, three-time Nigerian national champion Chidi Okezie, and 2025 Florida Relays Olympic Development 400m Champion Khaleb McRae. NCAA All-American James Milholen as well as 16-time NAIA All-American and four-time Drake Relays champion Payton Mauldin round out the men's 400 field.
Tara Davis-Woodhall, Hunter's wife, has had her fair share of global success. Davis-Woodhall is the reigning Olympic and World Champion and in the women's long jump. She previously finished sixth at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and took silver at the 2023 Outdoor World Championships. Tara boasts three U.S. titles and holds the second-best effort in American indoor history with a leap of 7.18m/23'-6.75". She was also a collegiate star at the University of Texas where she won Indoor and Outdoor NCAA crowns in 2021.
Davis-Woodhall will be challenged by the likes of Ese Brume, the Nigerian national record holder and three-time Olympian, Quanesha Brooks, a 2021 Olympian in Tokyo, and Nicole Warwick, the 2025 U.S. Indoor Championships fourth-place finisher. Other American entrants include Arianna Passeri, the defending Drake Relays champion, Sydney Willits, the 2024 NCAA Indoor title winner, Kayla Woods, the seventh-place finisher at the 2025 U.S. Indoor Championships, Aislinn McElhaney, a four-time Atlantic Sun Conference champion at Lipscomb University, and Jordan Gray Eggerth, the 2020 Blue Oval Showcase long jump champion.
The men's World Athletics Continental Tour long jump contest will lead into Davis-Woodhall and the women's field. 2021 Olympic qualifier Steffin McCarter brings the most experience to the runway at Drake Stadium. He will be joined by 2025 U.S. Indoor Champion and 2023 Drake Relays winner Will Williams, 2024 Olympic Trials qualifier Cameron Crump, current NCAA long jumper leader for the University of Minnesota Charles Godfred, and four-time Mexican national champion Victor Castro. Former Marion High School prep and Drake Relays champion Blair Brooks, Olympic Trials qualifier Jason Smith, and NCAA All-American Jalen Seals round out the men's long jump lineup.
2025 Drake Relays tickets are available
here.
Drake Relays Men's 400m Field
Sean Bailey
Zandrian Barnes
Wil London
Payton Mauldin
Khaleb McRae
James Milholen
Chidi Okezie
Hunter Woodhall
Drake Relays Women's Long Jump Field
Esme Brume
Quanesha Burks
Tara Davis-Woodhall
Jordan Gray Eggerth
Aislinn McElhaney
Arianna Passeri
Nicole Warwick
Sydney Willits
Kayla Woods
Drake Relays Men's Long Jump Field
Blair Brooks
Victor Castro
Cameron Crump
Charles Godfred
Isaiah Holmes
Steffin McCarter
Jalen Seals
Jason Smith
Will Williams
