DES MOINES, Iowa – The Augustana track & field teams had another successful turnout at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa.
In total, the Vikings claimed three Drake Relay titles with wins in the women's 4x800m Friday morning and a sweep on Saturday morning taking both the men's and women's distance medley relay titles.
"Winning a Drake Relays' title is never easy and we are proud of our athletes and their performance," director of track & field/cross country Tracy Hellman said. "I was especially impressed with the poise that we showed during the races.
"This was our 21st Drake Relay title since 2009, so I'm really proud of the history and consistency at this American track classic. Running relays at Drake is always a priority and we were very happy to come away with three wins."
In the record books, Augustana is tied for No. 14 with 14 total Drake Relays titles on the women's side.
In addition to the hardware collected on the blue oval, Augustana also saw a school-record fall with Kaly Banks tying the school record teammate Kaja Salemonsen set earlier this season in the triple jump, at the Kip Janvrin Invitational.
Drake Relays
The Viking's first Drake Relay title came on Friday morning with the women's 4x800m team of Patty Jo English, Meagan Schenk, Caroline Sudbeck and Cami Streff. The Vikings handed off in second place after English ran the first leg in 2:12.08. Schenk took the lead covering her two laps in 2:16.23. Sudbeck completed the 800m in 2:16.20 and handed off to the anchor, Streff, with the lead. A late move by Central Missouri's Jana Shawver challenged the lead, but Streff held off down the homestretch to bring home the hardware for the Vikings, winning by half a second in a time of 8:57.75.
The early morning races continued to be a good time for the Vikings, with Augustana sweeping the college distance medley relays on Saturday Morning on the blue oval.
The Augustana women's distance medley that took sixth in the nation indoors, proved why they were among the nation's best at the Drake Relays.
The relay of English, Ella Heinitz, Streff and Nicolette Schmidt led from gun to tape. English covered the opening three laps in 3:33.70. She handed off to the quarter-miler, Heinitz, who blazed the track in 56.96 to continue the already early lead. With an eight-second lead on the second-place team, Streff soloed a 2:14.14 800m to hand off to Schmidt with a 12-second cushion. Schmidt then made the four-lap tour in 4:58.15 to grant the Vikings the second Drake Relay title of the weekend.
"It's really special to be a part of the Augie winning legacy at Drake Relays," English said. "You're not out there for yourself, you're out there running for the team. Winning is fun, but being on this team is a blessing."
After seeing the women blaze the track, it was the men's distance medley relay's turn to attempt to defend last year's title.
The relay team of Evan Johnson, Gavin Fischer, Jonah Breuer, and Ryan Hartman were within the top-2 for the entirety of the race. Both Johnson and Hartman earned All-America honors in the distance medley relay at the indoor national meet and used their experience to contend for a Drake Relay title.
Johnson made the three-lap circuit in 3:03.06 to hand off to Fischer with the lead. Fischer scorched the track with a 48.47 to hold the lead and handoff to Breuer. The third leg of the relay was where the race started as Breuer handed off to Hartman, splitting 1:55.59, three seconds behind Loras who overtook Augustana in the 800m. Hartman was able to make up ground over the four-lap tour, eventually passing Loras to take home the third Drake Relay title, clocking a 4:06.51 to make the total time of the quartet 9:53.62.
"It means a lot," Fischer said when asked about winning a Drake Relay title. "It's a privilege just to be able to compete and adding a title on top of it is an amazing feeling. I'm very fortunate to have been part of such a great team."
Breuer shared excitement after winning his first Drake Relays title.
"It means a great deal," Breuer said. "After weeks upon weeks of consistent training, it feels awesome to get the chance to display our fitness as a relay team. I had never been to the meet before and I can say I couldn't have had a better experience. I am overall just extremely grateful for the opportunity."
The win marks the second-straight year that the Vikings claimed both distance medley relays, with Schmidt and English being the lone returners from last year's winning relay.
The Drake Relays started on Wednesday with Kylee Sallee and Kaye Paschka competing in the heptathlon.
Sallee scored 4,417 points over the seven events taking second in both the 200m (26.25) and the long jump (18-3).
Paschka placed sixth overall, scoring 4,086 points while taking second in the javelin throw (97-0) and third in the 100m hurdles (15.55).
With their marks, the two made their way on Augustana's Top-10 list with Sallee moving to fifth and Paschka eighth, respectively.
On Thursday night, Augustana took part in the distance carnival portion of the event, with multiple Vikings turning out notable performances.
The women's metric mile was first on the docket, with Schmidt and English taking fifth and sixth, respectively.
Schmidt ran a personal best time of 4:27.17 and ran a consistent race placing fourth in her heat.
English ran close to her season-best in the second heat, making a move to lead the field on her third lap before closing in 1:08.26 to place second in 4:28.46.
Rachel Rairdon placed 16th in the women's 3,000m steeplechase while Rekebah Rairdon placed 24th.
In the men's 3,000m steeplechase, Ryan Hartman ran his second-best time to date, placing sixth overall in 8:52.22, being the first Division II runner to finish.
In the women's 5,000m, Megan Means ran her second-fastest time as a Viking, placing 13th overall in 16:41.51.
Henry Klitzke was the nightcap for the Vikings in the men's 5,000m taking the track as the sun was setting and the band in the stadium played on. Klitzke went through 3,000m in 8:34.68 after clocking 1:08 and 1:09 through the first 3k, he finished in 16th place, running 14:25.35.
After the women's 4x800m claimed victory, the Vikings next competition would come in the 4x100m relay.
The women's 4x100m relay team of Grayce Adler, Ella Heinitz, Kylee Sallee and Nyanas Kur placed 15th overall, running 48.80.
Following the women's relay was the men's 4x100m relay with Lawrence Lokonbei, Melik Davis, Connor Clayton and Gavin Fischer. The quartet placed 21st overall in 42.34.
Lokonobei returned to the blue oval after a few hours to run the 110m hurdles where he placed 21st in 15.14.
In the high jump pit, Mearah Miedema placed 17th overall in the high jump, clearing 5-6.
Tyl Woelber made his Drake Relays debut, starting with the javelin throw. Despite the weather clearing up, the wind started to pick up as the day went on. Woelber's best throw came on his first attempt, throwing 187-9.
Woelber made his way to the high jump pit a few hours later and took 11th place, clearing 6-8.75.
Entering the evening session of Friday night, the Vikings had three relays left on the docket.
Starting the session was the women's spring medley relay with the team of Heinitz, Kur, Maia Peterson and Streff.
The Vikings took second in the first heat with Heinitz covering the opening 200m in 25.60, Kur split 24.72 on the second leg, handing off to Peterson in the lead. Peterson covered the 400m in 58.53 to handoff to Streff, who was on her second 800m of the day, where she ultimately split 2:12.91 to take second in 4:01.75.
The men's sprint medley relay also took fourth place, with a second-place finish in the third heat.
Lokonobei led off for the Vikings, covering the 200m in 22.66, Fischer completed the rest of the lap in a blazing 20.90 to move into second. Jed Dooyema covered the 400m in 50.24 to hand off to Johnson in third. Johnson moved up one spot, clocking 1:52.41 for a time of 3:26.20.
The final event for the Vikings on Friday night was the men's 4x200m relay. The team of Lokonobei, Matthew Schoessow, Clayton and Davis placed 14th overall in a time of 1:28.12.
Kip Janvrin Invitational
The highlight of the meet came in the women's triple jump with Kaly Banks, the school record holder for the indoor triple jump, tying teammate Kaja Salemonsen for the school record with her last attempt leap of 39-06.50. The duo are now co-school record-holders and sit in a tie for 21st in the nation.
On Thursday night, Cait Savey had a solo effort winning the women's 5,000m in 17:19.00. Taylor Melton placed second with a new personal best time of 17:31.02.
The freshmen duo of Ella Bakken and Aubrey Surage both ran sub 18 times, running 17:48.71 and 17:52.59, respectively.
In the men's 5,000m, Matt Steiger took first with a near personal-best time of 14:30.10. Two additional Vikings broke 15, with Colten Brand running 14:50.22 and Daniel Street clocking 14:55.10.
Janae Becher improved her hammer throw with a heave of 130-02, improving her mark as No. 4 on Augustana's Top-10 list.
In the men's 3,000m steeplechase, Nick Larson ran a near 20 second personal best, placing 12th overall with a time of 9:41.80.
Elizabeth Schaefer set a new personal best in the 100m hurdles running 14.85 to place seventh overall.
In the women's 400m hurdles, Noa Marteau ran a season's best time of 1:03.27 to take third in the race.
Up Next
The Vikings will compete in the Last Chance Meet hosted by Minnesota State on Friday before prepping for the NSIC Outdoor Track & Field Championships on May 12-14.
–GoAugie.com–
