A guide through the Drake relays

Jordan Zuniga, [email protected]

April 26, 2018

Iowa junior Mar’yea Harris poses for a portrait inside the University of Iowa Recreation Building on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018. Harris is the 2017 indoor season leader for the 400 meter dash with a time of 45.75. The Hawkeyes will host their first intersquad meet, the Hawkeye Invitational on Jan. 13. (Ben Allan Smith/The Daily Iowan)

April is coming to a close, and for the state of Iowa, that means everybody turns to Des Moines for the Drake Relays. As usual, the relays will take place inside Drake Stadium, with the majority of the major events taking place today and Saturday.

Iowa is coming off a 2017 Drake Relay appearance in which the two squads won six events. The Hawkeye men scored 39 points to take the Hy-Vee Cup for the first time in program history.

The five events won by the men included three relay events, and they hope to be successful there again.

Once again, Iowa will compete in several relays including the 4×100, 4×200, 4×400, 4×800, and 4×1,600, among others.

The Iowa women will also compete in several relays, and they eye succeeding in them to bring home their own Hy-Vee Cup. Several individuals are sure to have superb performances this weekend at the relays.

One is Brittany Brown, who is coming off a performance at Mt. SAC Relays in which she broke the school record with an 11.28-second 100-meter time.

RELATED: Looking back at last year’s Drake relays

The senior is no stranger to the Drake; she has run there the three previous years. Her recent performance running the 100 meter is impressive, and she has proved especially stellar as part of a relay team.

She helped anchor a relay win last year, and she hopes to do the same again, with along with teammate Briana Guillory.

Guillory will also almost certainly be a part of relay teams, she will run individually in the 200.

Another individual to watch is sophomore Laulauga Tausaga. This will be her first taste of Drake, but she is sure to compete in three events, the shot put, hammer throw, and discus.

Another individual to watch for on the men’s side will be Mar’Yea Harris, who was a member of two relays won by the Hawkeyes last year.

He is sure to be a part of more relays this year, and he will also compete individually in the men’s 200.

Reno Tuufuli was just one place shy of taking home the shot-put crown in last year’s relays, and he will be back in Des Moines to try to take that crown home this year. He will also defend his discus crown he won last year (59.34 meters).

In distance running, sophomore Nathan Mylenek has led the way for the Hawkeyes this season. He’s come close to some school records and is ranked 15th nationally, and he will run in the 1,500 this weekend.