This is a release from Drake Relays on three of the most exciting events: the women’s 100m hurdles, the women’s Long Jump, and the Men’s 400m hurdles.
Des Moines, Iowa, photo by Mike Deering / The Shoe Addicts
TOKYO OLYMPIC MEDALISTS HIGHLIGHT NEXT ROUND OF ELITE FIELD ANNOUNCEMENTS
DES MOINES, Iowa — Blake Boldon, the Franklin P. Johnson Director of the Drake Relays, has announced three more elite fields at the 112th Drake Relays Presented by Xtream powered by Mediacom, including the women’s 100-meter hurdles, women’s long jump and men’s 400-meter hurdles.
“Each of the fields announced today feature a medalist from the Tokyo Olympics and the defending Drake Relays Champion against a world class field,” Boldon said. “The women’s 100-meter hurdles is a matchup for the ages with the reigning Olympic Champion going head-to-head with the reigning World Champion. These three events are perfect examples of why the world pays attention to track and field in Des Moines.”
Women’s 100-Meter Hurdles
2021 Olympic Gold medalist Jasmine Camacho-Quinn Puerto Rico is coming off running the 100m hurdles in 12.67 seconds, the fastest time in the world this year. In addition to Tokyo in 2021, Camacho-Quinn qualified for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Her personal best is 12.26 at the 2021 Olympic preliminaries, and she holds the Puerto Rico national record in the 100m hurdles. The former Kentucky Wildcat was a two-time NCAA 100m hurdles champion. She returns to the Drake Relays after finishing second in the 2019 100-meter hurdle field.
Nia Ali is a three-time World Champion (2-time indoor 60m hurdles in 2014 and 2016 and 100m hurdles in 2019). Ali earned Olympic silver in 2016 and is a two-time United States champion. She won an NCAA 100m hurdle championship while at the University of Southern California.
Three-time Great Britain national champion Cindy Sember will be back to defend her 2021 Drake Relays title in the 100m hurdles. Sember took fourth in the 2016 Olympics while being a semi-finalist in the 2021 Olympics. She won the 2021 European indoor championships in the 60m hurdles. While at Michigan, Sember was the 2016 NCAA 60m hurdles champion.
The world-class field also includes Kristi Castlin (two-time Drake Relays champion and 2016 Olympic Bronze medalist), Gabbi Cunningham (two-time United States champion), Tobi Amusan (two-time Africa All-Games champion from Nigeria), Tia Jones (2018 World Junior champion) and Devynne Charlton (Bahamas national record-holder).
Women’s Long Jump
2021 Olympic Bronze medalist Ese Brume is the Nigeria national record holder at 7.17 meters/23-6.25. Most recently, Brume earned silver at the 2022 World indoor championships. Silver medalist. In 2019, she was an All-Africa Games champion and took second at the 2019 Drake Relays.
Keturah Orji was a two-time Olympian in the triple jump, placing seventh in 2021 and fourth in 2016. She is the American record holder in the triple jump, accomplishing 14.91m/48-11 as well as owning seven of the top 10 all-time performances in the U.S. triple jump of All Time. Orji is a five-time World Championships finalist and seven-time U.S. champion. At the University of Georgia, she was the long jump national champion and twice the triple jump champion.
Two-time defending Drake Relays long jump champion Kendell Williams will return to the Blue Oval. Williams earned second at the 2022 U.S. indoor pentathlon and was a Bronze medalist in the event at the 2022 indoor world championships. She was a fifth place finished in the heptathlon in the 2021 Olympics. A U.S. champion in the pentathlon and the heptathlon, Williams was a three-time NCAA champion in both the pentathlon and heptathlon at Georgia.
The world-class field also includes Chanice Porter (three-time Jamaica national champion and 2021 Olympian), Sha’Keela Saunders (six-time NCAA All-American and one-time long jump national champion at the University of Kentucky), Quanesha Burks (two-time U.S. national champion), Tiffany Flynn (fourth in U.S. 2021 Olympic trials), Christabel Nettey (seven-time Canada national champion) and Jahisha Thomas (second in the Great Britain indoor championships and second in the 2018 Drake Relays).
Men’s 400-Meter Hurdles
2021 Olympic Bronze medalist Alison Dos Santos is only 21 years old from Brazil and he set the national record of 46.72 in Tokyo. He returns as the defending Drake Relays champion after establishing a new Drake Relays record (48.15) and setting a world-leading mark at that time last April.
Abdelmarik Lahoulou is the Algeria national record holder and Olympic semi-finalist is both 2016 and 2021. He is a two-time All-Africa champion as well as a seven-time Algeria national champion.
2021 Olympic semifinalist David Kendziera is coming off a victory in the Texas Relays on March 25. Kendziera finished sixth in the 2021 Drake Relays and third in the 2019 edition of America’s Athletic Classic. He was an All-American in the high hurdles and 400m hurdles at the University of Illinois.
The world-class field also includes Khallifah Rosser (set his personal record of 48.65 at Drake Stadium in the 2018 U.S. Championships, Kemar Mowatt (2021 Olympic semi-finalist for Jamaica), Amere Lattin (2019 Pan American Games Silver medalist), Aldrich Bailey (fourth in 2021 U.S. Olympic trails) and TJ Holmes (a third-place finish in 2018 Drake Relays).
The 2022 Drake Relays Schedule can be found here.
The 112th Drake Relays presented by Xtream powered by Mediacom will be held April 27-30 at Drake Stadium. Single session reserved tickets for the 2022 Drake Relays are now available for purchase on draketix.com/drakerelays.
