ISU Wins Three Drake Titles, 4x800 Goes Fast

DES MOINES, Iowa – Three secured Drake Relays titles while the 4x800-meter relay team set the second-fastest time in Iowa State history at Penn Relays.

The Iowa State men's squad of Peter Smith, Darius Kipyego, Ezekiel Rop and Jason Gómez ran among the most elite 4x800-meter relay field at the Penn Relays, racing to the second-fastest time in school history with 7:13.94. Smith led off with an opening leg of 1:48.95, then handed off to Kipyego with a blistering split of 1:47.10. Rop took the baton next with another sub-1:48 split of 1:47.91. Gómez ran the anchor leg in 1:50.00 to finish third behind Ole Miss and Penn State.

Ole Miss ran 7:12.37, setting the new No. 5-ranking time in collegiate history, knocking Iowa State's school-record time of 7:12.57 down a slot to No. 6. Iowa State's time today is the 16^th-fastest in collegiate history.

At the Drake Relays, the women's shuttle hurdle relay team of Kaylyn Hall, Katie Ruffener, Katarina Vlahovic and Mackenzie Carney clocked 55.97 to sit atop the leaderboard and wave the Drake Relays Championship flag. The squad becomes the first Cyclones to win the event at Drake since 2019, where Hall and Vlahovic were also part of the team. The time currently ranks at No. 4 in the nation.

Iowa State took its next title in the women's distance medley relay, the first ISU win in the event at Drake since 2010. The squad, including three freshmen, made of Makayla Clark, Bria Barnes, Kinsey Christianson and Ashlyn Keeney locked down the seventh-fastest performance in program history in 11:21.50. The team's time is the third fastest in the nation this season.

Clark led off the 1,200m leg with a time of 3:28.78 and handed off to Barnes who built a gap between competitors on her 400m leg with 54.70. Christianson ran from there clocking a 2:09.43 800m split before Ashlyn Keeney took the baton to nail down the title going sub-4:50 with a 1,600 time of 4:48.60.

Kaylyn Hall took hold of the Cyclone's third title of the day in the 100m hurdle final, becoming the first Iowa State 100m hurdle Drake Relays Champion. Hall posted a personal record for the second-consecutive day, this time lowering it to 13.12 to now sit a slim .02 seconds off the program record. At this time, Hall's clocking ties for the 18^th-fastest in the nation this season.

At the Desert Heat Classic in Arizona, freshman Rachel Joseph sprinted to the second-fastest time in Iowa State history with 52.36. Joseph was the top collegiate finisher as she made the move from ranking fifth to second on the ISU performance list in just her second time racing in the event. Cebastian Gentil entered the 800m run to produce an NCAA West Prelims qualifying mark and did just that, running to 1:48.39. Gentil makes for the sixth Cyclone to hand in a sub-1:50 time this outdoor season.

Up next, the Cyclones host the ISU Alumni Invitational Saturday, May 6^th at the Cyclone Sports Complex.

Drake Relays

Women

Javelin: 1. Laurel Barber, Ottawa – 160-1 (48.81m); 14. Dahlia Gardiner, Iowa State – 120-4 (36.69m, PR)

Shuttle Hurdle Relay: 1. Iowa State (Kaylyn Hall, Katie Ruffener, Vlahovic, Carney) – 55.97

Distance Medley Relay: 1. Iowa State (Makayla Clark, Bria Barnes, Kinsey Christianson, Ashlyn Keeney) – 11:21.50 (No. 7 ISU)

100m Hurdle Final: 1. Kaylyn Hall, Iowa State – 13.12 (PR, No. 2 ISU)

Hammer Throw Championship: 1. Makenna Wilson, UNI – 212-1 (64.64m); 4. Kaitlyn Burson, Iowa State – 202-0 (61.59m)

Men

Hammer Throw: 1. Jacob Luebbert, Missouri S&T – 209-4 (63.80m); 5. Cam Jones, Iowa State – 201-3 (61.35m)

Javelin Championship: 1. Will Lawrence, Wisconsin-Platteville – 229-2 (69.85m); 8. Zach Podraza, Iowa State – 200-5 (61.08m)

Javelin: 1. Jacob Ludwick, Ottawa – 196-9 (56.97m); 9. Caden Hacker, Iowa State – 162-11 (49.66m)

Distance Medley Relay: 1. Air Force – 9:48.39; 2. Iowa State (Emanuel Galdino, Gus Langford, Tyler Carreon, Titus Winders) – 9:49.55

Penn Relays

Men

4x800m Relay: 1. Ole Miss – 7:12.37; 3. Iowa State (Peter Smith, Darius Kipyego, Ezekiel Rop, Jason Gómez) 7:13.94, No. 2 ISU

Desert Heat Invite

Women

400m Dash: 1. Fanny Peltier, France – 52.13; 2. Rachel Joseph, Iowa State – 52.36 (No. 2 ISU); 15. Zakiyah Amos, Iowa State- 55.23

Men

800m Run: 1. Colin Sahlman, Northern Arizona – 1:46.99; 2. Cebastian Gentil, Iowa State – 1:48.39

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Zakiyah Amos

Bria Barnes

Kaitlyn Burson

Mackenzie Carney

Tyler Carreon

Kinsey Christianson

Makayla Clark

Emanuel Galdino

Dahlia Gardiner

Cebastian Gentil

Caden Hacker

Kaylyn Hall

Cam Jones

Rachel Joseph

Ashlyn Keeney

Darius Kipyego

Gus Langford

Zach Podraza

Ezekiel Rop

Katie Ruffener

Peter Smith

Katarina Vlahovic

Titus Winders

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics