Arkansas wins women’s 4x800 for first time since 2005 in final appearance at meet for retiring Harter, Air Force captures men’s 4x1,600 title after five-year drought, the program’s first championship in Des Moines following Lindeman’s passing

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Photos by Lily Dozier and Ava Kitzi

DES MOINES, Iowa – The celebration continued for the Arkansas and Air Force track and field programs even beyond the Drake Relays Hall of Fame luncheon Thursday at the Courtside Club.

Both teams honored their respective Hall of Fame coaches Friday at the meet’s 113th edition with relay victories, with the Razorbacks adding an 11th women’s title at “America’s Athletic Classic” under Lance Harter in his final outdoor season with a 4x800 triumph, and the Falcons securing a 12th championship at Drake Stadium by delivering a come-from-behind 4x1,600 victory, their first since last year’s passing of former head coach Ralph Lindeman.

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Relay titles were twice as nice for Minnesota State and Purdue, who swept men’s and women’s crowns in the 1,600 sprint medley and 4x200 events, respectively.

Bradley also achieved a sweep in the men’s and women’s 1,500 showcases, with a pair of former collegiate All-Americans from Colorado taking the top two spots in the elite women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Air Force hadn’t won a 4x,1600 championship at Jim Duncan Track since 2018, but Ethan Ashley, Scott Maison, Sean Maison and Eli Bennett managed to hold off Iowa State by a 16:23.31 to 16:23.69 margin to secure the seventh Drake Relays men’s title in program history.

Although Purdue led entering the anchor leg, Iowa State’s Titus Winders seized control on the final lap, before Bennett relied on a late surge to emerge victorious.

Arkansas hadn’t won a 4x800 championship since 2005 and it was the only relay event the Razorbacks entered in their return to the Drake Relays for the first time in eight years.

Analisse Batista, Katie McCune, Ainsley Erzen and Lainey Quandt dominated the field to prevail in 8:41.74, giving Arkansas multiple Drake Relays crowns in the women’s 4x200, 4x400 and 4x800 in program history.

Erzen, a graduate of Carlisle High in Iowa and winner of the past two Drake Relays girls 800 titles, achieved a 2:08.59 split on the third leg.

Minnesota State entered the women’s 1,600 sprint medley relay already boasting the NCAA Division 2 record, which it achieved in Des Moines four years ago.

But Makayla Jackson, Rose Cramer, Denisha Cartwright and MaKenna Thurston eclipsed the Mavericks’ record by more than four seconds to produce another Division 2 all-time performance of 3:53.52.

Minnesota State also repeated in the men’s 1,600 sprint medley relay, as Kenry Atubel, Qai Hussey, Rashion Walker and Tanner Maier achieved a program-record 3:21.47.

Purdue celebrated its first sweep of the 4x200 championships since 2018.

Saran Kouyeth, Camille Christopher, Naomi Campbell and Cierra Williams triumphed in 1:34.46. Williams also won the women’s 400 in 53.57.

Eric Young II, Connor Czajkowski, Jahn Riley and Justin Becker prevailed in 1:22.90 for the Boilermakers.

Nebraska won its first men’s 4x800 title since back-to-back victories in 1995-96, with Nick Bryant, Sam Easley, Cortez Ruiz and Niko Schultz clocking 7:25.78.

Iowa State captured its first women’s 4x1,600 crown since 2013, with Madelynn Hill, Ashlyn Keeney, Janette Schraft and Cailie Logue clocking 19:04.56 to triumph against Arkansas State by more than 20 seconds.

Keeney, an Iowa City Liberty graduate, opened a significant gap on the field on the second leg for the Cyclones.

Following the completion of the collegiate relays, former Colorado All-American Madie Boreman won her first 3,000 steeplechase race of the year, separating from the pack with less than a kilometer remaining, before pulling away from Poland’s Alicja Konieczek.

Boreman clocked 9:36.86 for the fastest steeplechase opener of her career, with Konieczek – a former NCAA Division 2 champion at Western Colorado representing On Running – placing second in 9:39.46.

Tiana LoStracco won the women’s 1,500 in 4:18.92 for Bradley, with teammate Jack Crull clocking 3:43.18 to prevail in his 1,500 race.

South Dakota’s Jacy Pulse ran a lifetime-best 56.79 to win the women’s 400-meter hurdles, holding off Hannah Antkoviak of Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois, who ran the NAIA record 56.97 to place second.

Jayden Brown, a Jamaican athlete from Iowa Western Community College, clocked a personal-best 51.18 to triumph in the men’s 400 hurdles.

Raydoffa Braziel, an Illinois State junior, secured victory in the men’s 400 in 47.60, edging Jacob Parent of Bethel University in Minnesota in 47.72.

Kyle Rollins, a former NCAA Division 3 champion in the high jump at St. John Fisher College in New York competing unattached, cleared a lifetime-best 7-4.50 (2.25m) on his only opportunity after missing a pair of attempts at 7-3.75 (2.23m) and deciding to move the bar higher.

Central Missouri senior Madi Wulfekotter cleared a personal-best 14-1.75 (4.31m) on her third attempt to secure victory in the women’s pole vault, elevating to the No. 7 all-time competitor in Division 2.