Track and Field To Compete At Drake Relays & BYU Invite

Friday, April 27

Des Moines, IA

All Day

University of Utah

Drake Relays

Taggart & Griffiths Utah Spring Classic 2018

Photo by: Steven Earl

Track and Field To Compete At Drake Relays & BYU Invite

4/24/2018 6:54 PM | Track & Field

Drake Relays Schedule 2018

The Utes ready for action packed weekend.

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah track and field team prepares this weekend for two different meets, with several student-athletes traveling to Des Moines, Iowa, to compete at the Drake Relays hosted by Drake University while several will compete locally at the Robinson Invitational hosted by BYU, this Friday and Saturday, Apr. 27-28.

"It's kind of a tradition weekend with the Drake Relays and Robinson Invitational," Utah head coach Kyle Kepler said. "The Drake Relays out in Des Moines is one of the oldest track meets in the country and we are going to focus on three relays and a few individual events, mostly middle-distance oriented. The Robinson Invitational down in Provo will take place and we will certainly have a handful of runners down there in a variety of events."

The primary event the Utes will be looking to place a top time in at the Drake Relays will be the 4x800-meter relay. Competing for the Utes in the relay will be senior Grace Englund, sophomores Sarah Newton and Nicole Griffiths, and junior Caitlin Faust. All four currently hold top times posted by Utah athletes in the event this season. Faust, Newton, and Englund all have top-25 times this season in the 800-meter event in the Pac-12 with Faust ranking ninth, Newton 10th, and Englund 22nd.

Staying in Utah, the Utes will be sending a larger group of student-athletes to compete at the Robison Invitational. The sprinters who will be traveling for the Utes include seniors Alissa Atisme, Raynee Helm Wheelock, and freshman Jackie Martin. Atisme holds Pac-12 top 25 times in the 100, 200, and 400-meter events along with school records in the 100 and 200-meter events. Jackie Martin has been solid in her freshman season as she has earned times that has placed her eighth all-time at Utah in the 100 and ninth all-time in the 200 at Utah.

Juniors Hannah Allred, Jade Mulvey, and senior Shaylen Crook are some of the distance runners that will be traveling to BYU. Allred and Mulvey both rank in the top-15 in the Pac-12 in the 10,000 meters while Crook ranks 10th all-time at Utah in the event.

Freshman Rachel Whipple, senior Madison Lanford, and freshman Ruby Jane Mathewson have competed in the 400-meter hurdles this year. Whipple has been strong in her freshman year and currently ranks 22nd in the Pac-12 in the event. Mathewson and Lanford also rank in the top-25 in the Pac-12 coming in at 23rd and 24th respectively.

On the field, juniors Eliza Hansen, Lauren McCluskey, and sophomore Suzannah Stark will compete in the high jump for the Utes, where Hansen currently ranks 17th in the Pac-12. Freshman Regan Crofts will compete in the javelin.

"It's a chance to run close to home and a chance for our local kids to have some family come watch them and that's great," Kepler said. "We're certainly excited to get into the better part of the season in terms of weather, especially here at home, and this is the time to when you want to start running fast not only in practice but at meets and I think we are really starting to do that."

Click below to listen to Kepler in his weekly podcast give a recap of the Mt. SAC Relays and Long Beach Invitational, along with a preview of the Drake Relays and BYU Robinson Invitational.