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Drake University Athletics

World's Best Time, 2 American Leading Marks Set At Drake Relays

Drake Relays Drake Athletics

World's Best Time, 2 American Leading Marks Set At Drake Relays

DES MOINES, IOWA -- Senior Jeff See anchored Ohio State to victories in the 4x1,600 relay and a world-leading time in the 4x800 relay to highlight the 101st running of the Drake Relays Friday.

2008 Olympian Kara Patterson set a Drake Stadium record by posting the top mark by an American in the women's javelin this spring.

The Minnesota women continued their dominance in the university 4x800 relay by winning their fourth straight Drake Relays title in the U.S. leading time of 8:33.98.

Four records were set during Friday's session, pushing the two-day total to seven marks for the 101st running of the Drake Relays.

See opened the Friday afternoon program with a 3 minute 57.6 second anchor leg to lead the Buckeyes to victory in the 4x1,600 relay in 16:25.42.

Then he capped the day with a 1:47.5 anchor as both Ohio State and second-place Minnesota bettered the previous 4x800 world-leading mark of 7:18.72 by Penn State at the Florida Relays April 3.

"Everybody stepped up their game," said See. "It is one of those wins, those performances that you will always remember. We haven't always raced well at Drake, but today was a pretty special time. You don't get into that many races where you get to just run and today we were able to do that. It was a lot of fun."

Sophomore Jared Hall led off the relay, which was clocked in 7:17.68, followed by sophomore Cory Leslie and junior Dan White. Minnesota, with a 1:48.6 anchor by freshman Travis Burkstrand, was clocked in 7:18.18.

Junior Adam Green ran the opening leg in Ohio State's 4x1,600 with White and Leslie running the second and third legs.

Senior Gabriele Anderson ran a 2:06.7 anchor leg for the Minnesota women's 4x800 relay.

"I think having experience coming into Drake is really important," said Anderson, who ran the third legs on the 2007 and 2008 winning 4x800 relay teams at Drake. "We know the atmosphere. It's less pressure on our shoulders. so it is a really unique experience and we always look forward to running the Drake Relays. It has been fun to build a Minnesota legacy here for the last few years."

Patterson unleashed a throw of 202 feet 9 inches on her third attempt, bettering the stadium mark of 194-4 by Nebraska's Denise Thiernard in 1983.

"I kind of came in with no expectation because I've been battling injuries (back tightness and muscle spasms)," said Patterson. "So, I just kind of wanted to go out there and see how it felt. And I guess I just started trusting my body more and I let if fly."

Olympic medalist Blessing Okagbare anchored Texas-El Paso to victory in the women's university 4x200 relay, tying a school record with a clocking of 1:34.20. She also anchored the Miners to the fastest women's qualifying time in the women's university relay in 44.71.

"We came out here to do our best, do your best and see what you can get," said Okagbare, who was the lone double winner at the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships capturing the 60-meter dash and long jump. "We did what we were supposed to do in everything and we're really excited about.

Okagbare earned a bronze medal in the long jump at the 2008 Olympics for her native country of Nigeria.

Led by a sterling 4.30.9 anchor leg by NCAA champion Lisa Koll, Iowa State won its first ever women's university distance medley relay in 11:08.64.

"I knew that if I ran my hardest and if I put it all on the table, then I couldn't be upset with how it went," said Koll. "I was pretty confident, especially coming in with the lead I was like 'I'm okay, I can do this.' "

Sioux City East junior Shelby Houlihan defended her title in the high school girls 800 by setting a Drake Relays record of 2:09.22, which also is the second fastest prep time in the country this year.

Baylor won the men's university 4x200 relay for the fourth year in a row with the winning time of 1:21.64, the best clocking since the Drake Relays record of 1:20.53 was set in 1994 by Texas-El Paso.

Michigan freshman Erin Pendleton prevented older sister Emily, a junior and a teammate, from defending her title in women's university-college discus.  Erin won at 172-10, while Emily finished third in 171-1.

A day after setting a Drake Relays record in the high school high jump with the nation's top prep mark of six feet 1 inch Thursday, Hannah Willms from Dike-New Hartford won the high school girls' 100 in 12.36. She also anchored Dike-New Hartford to victory in sprint medley in 1:47.53.

Nebraska Natalie Willer won the women's university-college pole vault at 13-5.25 for second year in a row. Willer set a Drake Relays in the event last year at 14-3.5.

Lincoln (Mo.) won  the  men's college 4x200 relay (1:25.57) for second straight year and sixth time in the eight-year history of the event. Lincoln (Mo.) also won the women's college 4x200 relay for second year in a  row  in 1:34.84.

Cedar Rapids Washington  won its second straight high school boys' 4x200 relay in 1:28.79. Noah Kittleson of Indianola defending his high school boys' high jump  title at 6-8.

Jessica Gehrke of Iowa City West defended her high school girls' long jump at 18-0.25 .



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