DES MOINES, Iowa – Senior All-American David Timlin repeated as the 1500-meter champion to lead the Sycamores at a successful final day of the 2017 Drake Relays on Saturday.
 
Timlin, who took the title last year by one-hundredth of a second, won in a similarly dramatic fashion – edging out Bradley's Michael Ward by less than one second at a season-best 3:51.59. The Chicago native used his signature kick with a very quick final lap split of 55.72 for the win. Timlin has been a Second-Team All-American in the 1500 each of the last two seasons.
 
Junior and defending MVC Outdoor champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase Taylor Austin managed to overcome the weather and have a monster day in her signature event. Austin finished with a time of 10:13.42, which broke her previous school record of 10:17.70 and was good enough for third overall in the race and second among Division I athletes. Her time ranks 21st in the NCAA, ninth in the East and improves upon her previous Valley-leading time of 10:17.73.
 
In the 110-meter hurdles finals, Marcus Neely put on a season-best performance of 13.77 and earned a third-place finish behind Iowa's Aaron Mallett (6th NCAA) and Milwaukee's Nate Pozolinski (12th NCAA). His time is now 17th in the NCAA, 10th in the East, and is two hundredths better than his previous top MVC time of 13.79.
 
The women's sprint medley relay team made up of Shana Cooper, Oschtisha Jackson, Imani Davis and Alethia Marrero also had an impressive performance today, winning Heat Two and finishing fourth overall with a time of 3:56.37 – fourth-best in school history.
 
Senior Devyn Mikell had a strong showing in the field today for the Sycamore men, finishing fourth overall and second among Division I athletes in the men's long jump with a mark of 7.16m (23-06.00), which was just short of his season best of 7.18m (23-06.75).
 
"We had several top-three finishes and overall we had a good showing on the track," said ISU head coach Angela Martin. "It was great to end the meet on a high note with Taylor, Marcus, and David doing so well. We are really looking forward to tuning up for the conference meet the next week and a half."
 
Both the men's and women's teams will be back in action next week at Indiana University for the Billy Hayes Invitational on May 5-6, the final chance for the Sycamores before the 2017 MVC Outdoor Championships at Wichita State on May 12-14.
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Track and Field team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter.