DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake Bulldogs' track and field team was in action at home this weekend during the 116th Drake Relays. The Dogs posted two wins inside Drake Stadium to highlight their stint at America's Athletic Classic.
 
Cooper Cerese and Daniel Rotich both earned victories in the University/College division. Cerese, who was one of the collegiate Challengers during Wednesday night's World Shot Put Series, took top honors in the outdoor shot put with a toss of 18.46m/60-6.75. Rotich won the unseeded men's 5k in 14:30.45. Daghyn True crossed the line later than Rotich in the same race with a time of 14:54.36.
 
Brenden Heitzig was the runner-up in the men's seeded 5k. Heitzig paced 14:04.32. On the women's side, Breanna Burak was 10th in the women's unseeded 5k thanks to her time of 18:29.70.
 
Four Bulldog Relays also finished inside the top 10. The men's sprint medley of True, Kaden Karpel, Lanse Larsen, and Jake DeVivo ran 3:33.59. Heitzig combined forces with Berkley Munnings, Gaven Corpin, and Carter Beasley in the distance medley with a time of 9:50.48.
 
True, DeVivo, Larsen, and Xander Kwa were fourth with a 16:40.64 4x1600 relay. Kwa and Larsen also competed in the men's 3000m steeplechase. Kwa was sixth in 9:07.52 while Larsen took 11th in 9:21.84.
 
Ella Brown was on both the women's 4x400 and 4x800 relays that logged times of 3:55.39 and 9:08.16, respectively. Brown was joined by Sophia Agan, Gracie Federspiel, and Ashley Gaba on the 4x800, plus Emma Nau, Denae McElrath, and Avery Littlejohn on the 4x400. Brown was also 20th in the women's unseeded 800.
 
Agan, Federspiel, and Gaba were also connected with Amilia Condon on the Dogs' women's distance medley squadron that took 16th in 12:21.08.
 
Maud Visscher highlighted the women's field events with a runner-up finish in the university/college women's shot put. Visscher threw 15.87m/52-0.75 to take second. She was also sixth in the discus at 45.52m/149-4 and 20th in the hammer throw at 48.00m/157-6.
 
Ava Graham took 14th in the women's discus with a launch of 42.90m/140-9.
 
Centaine Noom-Duckworth and Chinemerem Iwuagwu finished higher in the women's hammer throw field with a fourth-place result of 59.52m/195-3 and sixth-place mark of 59.22m/194-3, respectively.
 
Other men's field event standouts included Owen Spira and Adam Phillips in the hammer throw. Spira was sixth with a throw of 61.13m/200-6 while Phillips finished 17th at 58.63m/192-4. Harrison McGregor was just outside the top 10 with an 11th-place result in the discus at 49.53m/162-6.
 
Back on the track, Beasley, Munnings, Dylan DeAngelo, and Drake Dombrosky were third in the men's university/college 4x400 relay. Beasley was fourth in the men's 800 after crossing the line at 1:49.48. Dombrosky and Munnings also joined with Xavier Baldwin and Josiah Rainey for another top 12 mark in the 4x200. DeAngelo took 13th in the 400 hurdles at 53.48.
 
Other 13th place finishers were Bowen Martin in the men's 10k on Friday night, just behind Jed Wilson's time of 31:02.69 in 12th, and the women's sprint medley team of Bliss Knox, Josilyn Dufoe, Sophia Bleich, and Gracie Foster.
 
Drake also had a 16th place finisher in the women's 10k as Anika Mohrhauser ran 38:10.35.
 
The Bulldogs will hit their schedule's homestretch next week with a May trip to Iowa City for the Hawkeye's annual Musco Twilight meet.