Saturday Results / Final Results / Drake Photos 1 / Drake Photos 2
DES MOINES, Iowa - The Boilermakers wrapped up the Drake Relays on a cool, rainy afternoon and were within five points of winning the women's title Saturday. The women's team finished with 21 points in the five-event race for the Hy-Vee Cup, despite pulling out of the 4x100-meter relay to rest with the Big Ten Championships two weeks away.
The women's 4x400-meter relay team ran the fourth-fastest time in program history and took fourth place in their final event of the day to earn five points. Taylor Dunlap led off and kept the Boilermakers in the top three, before Carmiesha Cox took the baton and moved Purdue up to second. Symone Black had a great third leg for the women and gave the team the lead heading into the final lap, before Aarin Jones came across the finish line in 3:34.96. The time is just 0.65 of a second behind the second-fastest time in program history, held by Jones, Black, Makayla Earnheart and Brionna Thomas. Jones is now a member of the four fastest 4x400-meter relay teams in program history.
The sprint medley relay team scored six points for the women with a third-place finish. Autumn Heath ran the opening 200-meter leg, before handing the stick to Savannah Roberson for the second 200m leg. Roberson ran a great leg and had Purdue out front, before handing the stick to Jones. Jones ran the 400m leg and handed to McIntosh for the 800m, which brought home a third-place time of 3:55.89. The time was just behind Texas, who was runner-up.
The women's distance medley relay team added five points to Purdue's total with a fourth-place finish. The team of Kiara McIntosh, Dunlap, Vanessa McLeod and Katie Hoevet hung around the top four of the race throughout the duration of the 4,000-meter race. Hoevet brought the baton across the finish line with a team time of 11:28.64.
The women's other five points came Friday night with the 4x800m team of McLeod, Hoevet, Susan Hubbard and McIntosh. The Boilermakers were in position to contend for the Hy-Vee Cup, and in the end would have needed to run a time of 45.81 seconds to tie for the win, while a time of 45.77 or better would have clinched the cup outright. With the cold weather, wet track, Cox also running in the 4x400m relay and the conference championships just two weeks away, the Boilermakers opted to take the smart route and sit out of the 4x100m relay finals.
Obokhare Ikpefan was a top-three finisher in the men's 400-meter hurdles Saturday. The junior had a lead early and went back-and-forth with the top three guys, in the end crossing the finish line in 51.98 seconds. The men's 4x400m relay team of Nicholas Parks, Kyle Webb, Kendal Frederick and Shawndail McLaren ran in the 4x400m relay finals after qualifying Friday. The team finished fifth overall and scored four points.
Elizabeth Iversen matched her PR and the seventh-best shot put mark in program history Saturday. The sophomore threw 14.69m (48-2.50) on her third attempt.
The Boilermakers will host their lone home meet next weekend with the Rankin/Poehlein Invite on Friday and Saturday.