DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Drake Relays University and College Division accepted entries were announced today with competition starting this Thursday at Drake Stadium. 

See the link located to the right for the list of accepted entries and assigned heats in the university and college divisions for the 114th running of the Drake Relays presented by Xtream powered by Mediacom. This year's field includes not only some of the top collegiate representatives, but also several world-class athletes looking to take advantage of the Relays' Category E status. More information is available www.drakerelays.org. 
 
Alongside one of the best professional lineups the Relays has presented this century, the 2025 America's Athletic Classic will also include a strong crop of talent in the University and College divisions. Iowa, Iowa State, Nebraska, Minnesota, and other familiar Relays teams will be joined by power conference programs like Oregon, Oregon State, Kentucky, Kansas State and Ohio State on the Blue Oval.
 
Iowa's Kalen Walker and Ohio State's Nazzio John both rank within the top 30 on the NCAA men's 100m dash performance list and will go head-to-head in a fiery sprint. Walker, who exhibited his blazing speed in a 40-yard dash inside Iowa's Kinnick Stadium last fall, checks in at 14th nationally and holds the school record in the indoor 60m dash.
 
Another Hawkeye, Kai Graves-Blanks, sets the pace in the men's 110m hurdles. He ranks second in the Big Ten Conference ahead of Ohio State's Braxtonn Brown who will also be on the Blue Oval this week. Other headlining hurdlers include three-time Big East Conference champ Darius Brown of DePaul and the NCAA sixth-ranked 400m hurdler Isaac Lewis of Iowa.
 
Elsewhere, Nebraska's Niko Schultz back to defend his 800m championship, Ohio State's top 30 4x100 relay team, and the Buckeyes' Edidiong Udo, the fifth-best 400 runner in the NCAA and a former Nigerian national champion.
 
The collegiate men's throws are loaded with NCAA contenders including shot putters Isaiah Schafer of Minnesota, currently ranked No. 4 nationally, and defending Drake Relays champ Cam Jones of Iowa State. Iowa's Ryan Johnson, the eighth-ranked hammer thrower will be in the field along with Kansas State's Gary Moore.
 
Defending Drake Relays high jump champion Tyus Wilson of Nebraska will be back to leap for his second-straight title in Drake Stadium. Western Illinois' Arnie Grunert, the second-ranked pole vaulter in Division I track and field, headlines the collegiate vaulters.
 
The 1500 is primed to be one of the must-watch women's collegiate races. 2025 Big Ten Conference Indoor 3000m and 5000m runner-up Juliet Cherubet of Oregon leads a diverse field of runners. Utah's Erin Vringer is the only participant ranked inside the NCAA top 50 in the race, but other entrants own valuable experience elsewhere. Minnesota products Zoie Dundon and Isabelle Schmitz, two top 11 steeplechasers, and Drake's standout 800 runner Emilie Meyer round out the 1500 roster.
 
Defending Relays Cup champion Kentucky returns its women's squad to Des Moines. The Wildcat contingent includes their 4x100 relay team of Victoria Perrow, Hannah Douglas, Stacey Onyepunuka, Sharmelle Holmes, and Morgan Davis in search of Kentucky's second straight championship. Iowa's 4x100 team will also put its top 40 time to the test.
 
Perrow will also be in the field for the women's 100m dash along with Iowa's Lia Love and Leah Bertrand of Ohio State. Bertrand is one of the fastest sprinters going with a best of 10.94 seconds. She is one of just two NCAA Division I runners to run a sub-11 second 100 this season.
 
Notre Dame will again be chasing a 4x1600 relay title in the university/college women's division. The Fighting Irish set a national collegiate record in their Relays-winning effort a year ago. Siona Chisolm is the lone returner from their unprecedented relay team in 2024 with Emily Covert, Isabel Allori, and Gretchen Farley stepping up.
 
The women's shot put will be a hotly contested affair. Kellyn Kortemeyer of Nebraska, Anthonett Nabwe of Minnesota, Lacey Stringer of Ohio State, Katie Fare of Northern Iowa, and Wisdom Williams of Iowa all currently rank in the NCAA top 40 for that event.
 
Other collegiate women's field events include a stacked pole vault with Marleen Mulla and Anna Willis, two of five South Dakota Coyotes in the lineup and a pair of top four valtuers in the country. Nebraska's Jenna Rogers finished third at the 2024 Olympic Trials in the high jump and will look to replicate her 2023 Drake Relays appearance when she won the title that year.
 
Top 20 hammer throwers Monique Hardy of Kansas State and Lydia Knapp of South Dakota will fire away. That duo will be challenged by Nabwe in her second event of the 2025 Drake Relays, fellow Golden Gopher Hadley Streit, and Drake standout Centaine Noom-Duckworth.
 
Like previous Drake Relays installments, the 2025 running will also feature a selection of elite professionals competing alongside the top collegians in championship division events.
 
Defending Drake Relays champion and 2021Tokyo Olympian KC Lightfoot will be back in Drake Stadium to challenge Grunert in the pole vault. Romaine Beckford of Jamaica, who was a 2024 Olympic finalist in Paris will compete in men's high jump with sights set on upending Tyus Wilson's reign. Kai Chang, another Jamaican representative, is set to compete in the men's discus.
 
Veronica Fraley, a 2024 Olympian, will challenge for the top spot in both the women's discus and shot put fields while Jessica Heims, a para thrower, will also be competing for the discus title. 2024 Great Britain national champion and former NCAA All-American Divine Oladipo will be among the contenders for the shot put championship alongside Fraley and the fierce field listed above. Former South Dakota star and All-American Emily Grove will add to Coyote-laden to the women's pole vault field.
 
2025 Drake Relays tickets are available here.