By Tyler Wooten
GoSycamores.com
DES MOINES, Iowa – Indiana State had a tremendous final day at the 107th running of the prestigious Drake Relays, winning three event crowns on Saturday on one of the biggest stages in the track world this weekend.
The action on the track was the lone ray of sunshine on an otherwise drab and dreary day at Drake Stadium on Saturday, as consistent showers and cold winds bombarded the athletes and spectators alike.
However, that didn't slow down the Sycamore men from having an unbelievable day. ISU won three event titles, pushing its all-time win total at the Relays to 14. As junior Marcus Neely said in his post-race interview: “we're from the Midwest. This is our type of weather.”
One of those wins on Saturday came in a familiar event for the Sycamore men: the 4x110-meter shuttle hurdle relay. ISU set the Drake Relays record in the event at 55.06 in 2001 with an all-star crew that featured the likes of NCAA Champion Aubrey Herring and current pole vault coach Jeff Martin.
On Saturday the quartet of Neely, Grant Stamm, Adarius Washington and Jacob Wright won in dominating fashion by more than a second at 56.56 seconds – barely a few hours after a similarly strong 58.36 to lead the preliminary round.
“We came here trying to win,” Washington said post-race. “We got third three years in a row, and it's really been burning in my soul, so I'm glad we could finally pull it off this year.”
Both of those races make what senior All-American hurdler Adarius Washington did in the finals of the 110-meter hurdles that much more impressive. In front of a large crowd and in front of a national television audience, Washington had the race of his life, tired and cold, and exploded to an amazing time of 13.40 seconds – a wind-legal 13.40 at that. It was an exhilarating race, as Washington and Kent State's William Barnes ran neck-and-neck until the finish when Washington edged him out by one-hundredth of a second.
Entering the race, there were four NCAA top-10 hurdlers in the final – including Iowa's Aaron Mallett, who Washington beat out by two spots.
“I wasn't favored coming in, but I just went out and ran my race,” Washington said. “This is my favorite meet. They put good hurdle races together every year, and that's why I love coming back year after year.”
That time is a monstrous PR of .18 seconds over his previous best of 13.58, which means he leapfrogs NCAA Champion Chris Lancaster on the all-time ISU list to No. 3 all-time behind Olympian Greggmar Swift (13.35) and Herring (13.36).
Washington's time also now puts him into a tie with Oregon football star Devon Allen for No. 1 in the NCAA, as well as into a tie for No. 2 in the United States this season. It also ranks him No. 1 in the NCAA East Region and – most importantly – it qualifies him for both the U.S. Olympic Trials in July (standard is 13.52) and the 2016 Rio Olympic Games (standard is 13.47), if he qualifies at the Olympic Trials in Oregon.
“(The season ahead) is promising, because I knew coming here that the competition and the time would be here, so I just had to focus on my lane.”
Mere minutes later, junior All-American David Timlin capped off the weekend for the Sycamores with a similarly exhilarating finish in the seeded men's 1500-meter race.
Timlin, as per usual, remained in the back of the pack on the first lap and slowly made his way to the front.
“The weather wasn't perfect,” Timlin said. “(It wasn't) raining hard, but it was wet on the track, so the idea of going crazy fast right out of the window is not reasonable. We got out to a more conservative start and we stayed kind of packed up through probably three laps and once they hear the bell, everyone knows it's time to go.”
On the bell lap, Timlin put on his signature kick and took the lead away from St. Olaf's Paul Escher on the final straightaway. Escher did not give it up willingly, though, and fought Timlin to the end. Like Washington, Timlin also ended up prevailing by one-hundredth of a second at 3:45.28 over Escher's 3:45.29.
“We were step-for-step at the end,” Timlin said. “I thought he won at the end, it was that close.”
Currently, Timlin's time moves him up to 46th on the NCAA East Region qualifying list.
Also finishing high on Saturday was junior jumper Devyn Mikell in the university/college division of the long jump. Mikell was the third-place finisher at 7.28m (23-10.75).
And two nights after breaking the school record in the women's 4x1600-meter relay, the Sycamore women's distance crew set the No. 2 distance medley relay time in school history on Saturday. The quartet of Brooke Moore, Ahmanah Woods, Aleksey Green and Taylor Austin ran 11:43.41 to finish ninth – less than two seconds off the all-time mark set in 1995.
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Indiana State also competed on Saturday in the Redhawk Invite at Miami University.
The Sycamores won three titles in the field, including a 1-2-3 sweep in the women's long jump. Mandy Jones won at 5.42m (17-09.50), and not far behind in second and third were Elizabeth Herron (5.39m/17-08.25) and Darian Mehne (5.35m/17-06.75).
Sycamore men's jumpers also had a strong day with two wins of their own. Gino Brown took the triple jump title at 13.64m (44-09.00), and DeSean Prentice won the high jump at 2.00m (6-06.75).
Sycamore pole vaulters also had a good day, finishing as the runner-up in both events. Freshman Riley Smith was second in the men's edition at 4.80m (15-09.00), and senior All-American Kimyanna Rudolph was second on the women's side at 3.86m (12-08.00).
Sophomore Ryan Chestnut had himself a busy day in the field as well, making finals in all three of his throwing events. Chestnut finished fourth in both the shot put (14.61m/47-11.25) and discus (40.75m/133-08), and he finished fifth in the hammer at 49.73m (162-02).
ISU also had a solid day on the track. Senior Arqeil Shaw was the top finisher for the Sycamores at third in the 400-meter hurdles at 56.12 seconds. Carl McQuay had a fourth-place finish to his name in the 200, clocking in at 23.05.
Two men's distance runners also finished in the top-10: Tony Rigoni in the 800 (fifth, 1:57.92) and Quentin Pierce in the 1500 (seventh, 3:56.05).
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Indiana State will have one meet left before hosting the 2016 MVC Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the Gibson Track & Field Complex: the Billy Hayes Invite at IU next Friday.
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.
