DES MOINES, IOWA - World indoor champion Lolo Jones returned home to set a record in the women's special 100 hurdles to highlight the Saturday session of the 99th annual Drake Relays that saw four records set and one tied under sunny skies.
A capacity crowd of 14,457 ? the 43rd consecutive year the Saturday program was sold out ? was treated to a preview of what to expect from rising stars for both the upcoming NCAA Championships at Drake June 11-14 as well as the Olympics in Beijing, China, in August.
Jones captured her fourth straight Drake Relays title. She was clocked in 12.74 seconds just off her 2008 world leading time of 12.72, but good enough to break her previous Drake Relays mark of 12.93 set in 2005.
"It's exciting to be back. It's great opportunity for people to see me run who never get a chance to," said Jones, who celebrated her victory by tossing her sunglasses into the crowd. “The emotion is just running like crazy here. My performance was definitely a good stepping stone."
Jones also bettered the Drake Stadium mark of 12.92 set by former Illinois star Perdita Felicien in 2001.
Two-time World Indoor champion Christian Cantwell won his sixth career men's invitational shot put title at 68 feet 6 inches to top a field which included 2007 World Outdoor champion Reese Hoffa.
Cantwell eclipsed the previous Drake Relays mark of five career invitational shot put crowns by Al Feuerbach (1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1978).
"This was a piece of something I wanted to get for a long time, " said Cantwell. "I had first thought about this record two years ago and it's a great honor to be a part of.
“I felt like I had a big throw in me today, but it just didn't happen," said Cantwell, who was named the outstanding men's performer of the 2002 and 2006 Drake Relays. "Nonetheless, it was great to have a consistent day of throws.”
Hoffa, who competed in the 2004 Olympics, finished third at 66-8.
"With my practices leading up to this meet, I thought I was easily going to go 71-0 today, of maybe 72-0, " said Hoffa, who earned a silver medal at the 2008 World Indoor Championships. "You're going to have days like that and you just come in here and you kind of grind it on out and get something decent out there. I think that was OK, but definitely some bigger throws are on the horizon for me.”
Anwar Moore won his second straight title in the men's special 110 hurdles and third in last four years in 13.14. Allen Johnson, 1996 Olympic gold medalist in the event, placed fifth in his Drake Relays debut being timed in 13.40.
Emily Brown from Team USA Minnesota set a Drake Stadium record in the women's 3,000 steeplechase of 9:45.38, breaking the mark of 9:52.04 set by Korene Hinds of Jamaica in 2005.
Jeff Hartwig, the American indoor and outdoor recorder holder, added another record to his resume by setting a Master's 40-age division mark in the men's pole vault at 18-1.
Collegiate record holders Brittany Riley and Brittney Reese delivered solid performances in their specialties.
They were the only collegians to be ranked No. 1 in the United States in their events last year by Track and Field News, and will have a great opportunity to make their first U.S. Olympic teams this summer
The two-time NCAA champion Riley, a senior at Southern Illinois, recorded the second best mark in the U.S. this spring in defending her women's hammer throw title at 217-5.
Reese, a junior at Mississippi who won the 2008 NCAA indoor long jump crown, defended her Drake Relays women's university long jump crown with a wind-aided leap of 21-6.75.
Auburn's Cory Martin tied a Drake Relays record in the men's university-college hammer throw of 238 feet 9 inches that was set by Libor Charfeitag of Southern Methodist in 2002.
Martin's throw was just one foot shy of his school-record mark of 239-9 set two weeks ago - a mark that leads the NCAA this year. Auburn teammate Jacob Dunkleberger, the 2007 NCAA champion, was second at 230-4.
The Baylor men and women combined for seven relay titles, the most ever at the Drake Relays while bettering the previous high of five by Illinois in 1943.
The Baylor men won the 4x100-, 4x200- and 4x400-meter relays for the second-straight year. The Bears continued their dominance at Drake in the men's university 4x400 relay with their fourth straight title and 18th in the last 24 years.
The Baylor foursome of Nicole Jones, Danielle Bradley, Erin Bedell and Lauren Hagans set a Drake Relays record in the women's 4x1600 relay of 19:05.80 with defending champion Minnesota second.
The Baylor men won their second straight crowns in the 4x100 (40.11) and 4x200 (1:23.77) relays.
The Baylor women won the university division distance medley relay (11:26.15), 4x1600 (19:05.80), 4x100 (44.24) and 4x200 (1:34.75) relays.
Nebraska senior Dusty Jonas, the 2008 NCAA indoor champ, won the men's invitational high jump at 7-6.5, with that leap ranking No. 2 on the collegiate list and No. 3 on the U.S. outdoor list.
Michigan junior Tiffany Ofili, the reigning NCAA Indoor and outdoor hurdles champ, won the women's university-college division 100 hurdles (12.81) for the second straight year.
She also ran the anchor leg on the winning shuttle hurdle relay which was clocked in 55.04.
Mississippi junior Barnabas Kirui, who won the 2007 NCAA steeplechase, defended his crown at Drake in 8:52.56.
Georgia junior Justin Gaymon, who owns the top collegiate time in the 400 hurdles, also won his speciality for the second straight year at the Drake Relays with a 49.26 clocking.
Becky Horn ran the anchor leg on Western Michigan's women's university division sprint medley relay (3:49.07) which defended its title from 2007. She also won the women's university-college 800 on Friday in 2:08.55.
Dominic Tanui, a junior from Texas-El Paso, defended his title in the men's university-college 800 in 1:49.38.
Lincoln won the women's college division 4x100 for the seventh straight year.
Oklahoma Baptist captured six college division relay titles. The Oklahoma Baptist men won the 4x100, 4x200 (1:26.58), 4x400 (3:13.73) and 4x800 (7:38.76) relays.The Oklahoma Baptist women won the 4x200 (1:38.99) and 4x400 (3:42.59) relays.
A.G. Bradford from Davenport North set a meet record in the high school girls' 400 hurdles of 1:01.01, while Waukee broke one of the oldest high school girls' marks in the 4x400 relay.
Waukee was timed in 3:53.65 to break the previous Drake Relays standard of 3:53.90 set by Indianola in 1980.
John Hinton won the master's mile for the fourth time in the past six years with a winning time of 4:26.87.
