The Iowa women’s track and field team began a weekend of competition at the Drake Relays in Des Moines on Thursday. Head coach Layne Anderson’s squad fielded competitors in the 800 meters, the 4×1,600 meter relay, and the 5,000 meters.

During the afternoon session of the distance carnival, junior Adrianne Alexia took second place in the 800 with a time of 2:08.61 that narrowly bested Loyola (Illinois) freshman Rebecca Sterns’ time by .07 seconds. Freshman Kaitlyn Nelson finished fifth in the event with a time of 2:09.96.

In the 4×1,600 meter relay, the team of graduate students Lauren Scott and Mareike Schrulle, senior Brooke Gambrall, and freshman Lisa Gordon clocked a time of 19:41.15. The quartet’s time was good for fourth place in the 16-lap relay to cap the afternoon session for the Hawkeyes.

The Drake Relays are scheduled to resume at 8 a.m. today and continue throughout the weekend.