Des Moines, IA – One of the premier outdoor track and field events in the nation, the 2022 Drake Relays will feature a number of individual participants from the Indian Hills Men's & Women's Track & Field programs.
Billed as America's Athletic Classic, the 2022 event will serve as the 112th edition of the historic Drake Relays hosted by Drake University at Drake Stadium. The Warriors have competed in each of the last three runnings of the Drake Relays, including Kenny Bednarek's 200-meter dash title in 2019.
"We have gotten more individuals accepted into the Drake Relays than we ever have before," stated head coach Brent Ewing. "We have 14 individuals/events competing in the 100-800-meter events. There's only one other JUCO program that got a single athlete into the relays in those events. I think that says a lot about the depth and the quality of our program. We are anxious to compete against some of the best NCAA DI talent in the nation."
The Warriors open up this year's event Thursday night as Aliyah Simmons, the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Indoor National Champion in the 800-meter event, will participate in the same event at 5:00 PM. Simmons will be one of 22 individuals competing for a coveted title at the Drake Relays, a field that features runners from all levels of collegiate track.
The Warriors are in full swing on Friday with eight events. The men's 4x800 relay squad will open up at 9:02 AM. The quartet will feature Nick O'Connor, Jerry Harper, Roneldo Rock, and Keegan Simmons.
Rivaldo Marshall, this week's Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Athlete of the Week after shattering the 800-meter school record, has been added to the seeded finals at 1:56 PM.
In the women's sprints, freshman standout Kayla McCray will compete in the 100-meter dash prelims at 2:41 PM. The women's final in the event will be held Saturday at 1:24 PM.
The men's 100-meter dash, where the Warriors currently rank third in the NJCAA in the event, will feature four individuals from Indian Hills. Aurel Tchanbi, Damoy Allen, Isiah Thomas, and Justin Walden will line up at 2:51 PM on Friday for the prelims. The finals are set for1:30 PM on Saturday.
Kahliyah Anderson will compete in the women's 400-meter dash at 5:26 PM on Friday followed by the men's 400-meter dash featuring Kendrick Winfield.
The women's 200-meter dash will feature by McCray and Anderson at while the men's 200m will be well represented by the Warriors with Winfield, Allen, Tchanbi, and Thomas eyeing a title.
JC Ramirez will wrap things up for the Warriors on Saturday with the men's triple jump at 2:30 PM. Ramirez becomes the first jumper in program history to compete at the Drake Relays.