By Carter Melrose
The story of the 2017 Drake Relays, April 27-29, comes almost entirely from the impressive showings from the Iowa relay teams, and there wasn’t a bigger story this year in Des Moines than the 4×400-meter relay.
The Iowa quartet of sophomores Mar’yea Harris and DeJuan Frye and freshmen Collin Hofacker and Emmanuel Ogwo ran away from the rest of the field to take the Drake Relays flag home for Iowa. This particular flag was special; it marked the first time since 1967 that Iowa has won the 4×400 at the Drake Relays.
“Putting Mar’yea on the anchor, there are not many anchors in the country [better] than him,” Iowa Director of Track and Field Joey Woody said. “We felt very confident that if we kept it close, he could do his thing, and win.”
Another relay victory came on the second day, although it was a fairly quiet day for the Hawkeyes. That quiet made the frigid cold weather seem that much more present, until sophomore Carter Lilly and the Iowa 4×800-meter relay team made some noise. Lilly ran the anchor for the event, his fastest distance, and eclipsed an Iowa State racer along the way. The last leg of the relay came down to two teams — Iowa and Iowa State — and Iowa, on the back of Lilly, took home the Drake flag and sent rival Iowa State a message.
“We think we are one of the best 800 groups in the nation, so coming into this, we were really confident in ourselves,” Lilly said. “We have been talking about this since last year, being able to run four 800 guys in a race, instead of three 800 guys and a 400 runner.”
The third day of competition continued the relay dominance for Iowa. Early in the sprint medley, Iowa seemed sure to pick up a top-five spot. That was until Harris received the baton. During his 400-meter leg, Harris’ burst ate up three racers and promptly put the team in first place, before handing off to Lilly who was easily able to lock-up the victory in the final 800 meters for Iowa.
“I knew if I kept my chest down, my chin up, I’d be fine,” Harris said. “When I saw an opening, I shot past him.”
This essential victory kept Illinois at bay, and Iowa at the top of the Hy-Vee Cup standings.
Senior Aaron Mallett was set up to take home a Drake flag in the 110-meter hurdles on the third day. Coming into the day, he had garnered a top-five time in the country and had enough confidence to fill the stadium. Mallett started the race hot but hit the third hurdle, although it didn’t seem to faze him. He won easily. The win was a season-best time (13.47), and his first Drake Relays win.
“I really wanted a flag before I graduated,” Mallett said.
A notable on the first day was sophomore Andrea Shine, who ran a personal-best in the 5,000 meters.
The second noteworthy personal-best on that day was set by Ian Eklin in the 10,000 meters. Eklin ran the race two minutes faster than he had before, clocking in at 29:47. The two-minute personal record has him in the top 10 in program history.
Reno Tuufuli, who might end up with more discus victories on the season than fingers on his right hand, won again, throwing 59.34 meters.
At the end of the weekend, the Iowa men’s team came out victorious in the Hy-Vee Cup standings.
“This has been one of the goals for us over the last few years,” Woody said. “To come out here and win a lot relays and score a lot of points, it really sets us up well as we get ready for the Big Ten Championships.”