DES MOINES, Iowa - The Indiana State distance runners were spectacular in the distance carnival on day one of the Drake Relays, as several athletes helped to rewrite the school record book behind strong performances on the track.
 
"The Drake Relays Distance Festival has such a special feel and creates a great environment," Associate Head Coach for Cross Country Kyle Walsh said. "Our athletes took advantage of an awesome opportunity against top level competition in great conditions."
 
Adding on to his stellar senior campaign, Akis Medrano put together the best 5K race of his career on Thursday at the Relays. The distance standout crossed the finish line with the second-fastest time in school history of 14:10.96, just .16 away from John Mascari's school record, which was good enough for a seventh place finish. Medrano now owns the top time in the Missouri Valley Conference by seven seconds.
 
"Akis [Medrano] just missed his mentor John Mascari's school record, but ran the best 5K of his life and has really brought that fire into racing as he's rounding out his Sycamore career very well," Walsh said.
 
The Sycamore steeplechasers were phenomenal on Thursday evening, as both Ryan Cash and Jocelyn Quiles raced to new personal-bests in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Cash ran an impressive race on the men's side, crossing the finish line in fourth place with the sixth-fastest time in ISU history of 9:01.65. Thanks to his performance, the senior now owns the third overall time in the conference and enters the NCAA East Region rankings at 37th.
 
"Ryan finally put together the steeple performance we knew he was capable of and moved his way up the NCAA East list, MVC list and as he let me know, knocked me off the all-time top-10 list," Walsh said.
 
Right before Cash took the track, Quiles represented the Trees well in the women's 3000-meter steeplechase. The sophomore entered the meet already boasting the fifth-best time in school history, but ended the day with the third-fastest time in Indiana State history of 10:48.94 en route to a 10th place finish. Her 10 second personal-record is fifth in the Valley.
 
Immediately after the steeplechases, Alli Workman stepped on the track for the Sycamores to battle in the unseeded section of the women's 5K. The junior fought for an eighth place finish and ended up clocking the sixth-best time in school history of 17:19.88, which pushes her to fourth in the MVC.
 
"Alli and Jocelyn ran excellent races, both bettering their all-time best marks," Walsh said. "Their times rank well in the all-time Sycamore list, but more importantly the put themselves into scoring contention in the MVC ranks."
 
Day one of the Drake Relays began on a high note for the blue and white, as sophomore Cale Kilian ran a career-best race in the unseeded section of the men's 1500-meter run. Kilian raced to a third place finish in his heat with a personal-best time of 3:53.46, which was good enough for eighth overall.
 
"Cale started us off battling with the leaders of his 1500 and put together a solid personal-best. He continues to close the gap on his Valley rivals," Walsh said.
 
Noah Hufnagel made his collegiate debut in the outdoor 10K on Thursday evening against some staunch competition. Only a true freshman, Hufnagel placed 12th in the longest distance event on the track with a time of 31:11.04, which is the second-best time in the conference posted by a true freshman.
 
"Noah has one of the best freshman 10K debuts I can remember for a while. He was about a mile away from a huge breakthrough, but ran very strong for us and has a bright future in the long distance events," Walsh said.
 
Friday will be a busy day for the blue and white, as athletes from ISU will be in action at both the Drake Relays and the Jesse Owens Track Classic at Ohio State. Action at Drake is slated to begin at 1:02 p.m. ET for ISU with the 100-meter hurdles prelim round, while events at Ohio State will begin at 2 p.m. ET with the women's hammer throw.  
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Track & Field teams, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter.