ISU Men Take Home Drake Relays Cup

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Iowa State men won the Drake Relays Cup title, a first for the men since 2021, while winning an event title in the sprint medley relay to close the 115^th Drake Relays.

The ISU men won the Cup by nine points with a total of 31 over Iowa's 26, while the women came just shy of the title with 33 behind Iowa's 36. The men won the sprint medley relay, finished runner-up in the distance med and earned points in the 4x100m and 4x400m in the final day to secure the Cup.

𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐂𝐮𝐩 𝐌𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬!

Congratulations to @CycloneTrackXC 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Ci3mx9XHZ7
— Drake Relays (@DrakeRelays) April 26, 2025

The men's sprint medley took home the title with a winning time of 3:17.23, put together by Mikey McClain, Ty Koehnk, Dugion Blackman and Darius Kipyego. The squad led the whole way to win ISU its third Drake Relays title in the event as Iowa State also won in 2021 and 2018.

The women's distance medley relay squad took second to add eight points to their Relays Cup total while producing the second-fastest time in school history. The team's time of 11:09.58 is the fastest by ISU since 2010.

Becca Heitzig went with the pack in her opening 1,200m leg before breaking open a lead in the final stretch for a 3:24.43 split. Heitzig handed off to Cameron Moon for the 400m leg, who then passed the baton to Riley Beach for the 800m. Bella Heikes had the 1,600m anchor leg, and Heikes ran in third until taking the lead in the final lap. Utah then surged ahead with 300m to go and held it until the end.

The men's DMR also took second, getting edged out of first by .08 seconds, clocking 9:37.13. The time is now ranked No. 3 in ISU history, and is the fastest since 2010.

Devan Kipyego put up a 2:54.14 1,200m opening leg to give Iowa State a healthy lead, and handed off to Calvin Curcija for the 400m (46.68) who kept the lead with Iowa State. Freshman Jacoby Harmon then took the stick for the 800m, while Emanuel Galdino anchored with the 1,600m. Galdino led before two squads made a move entering the final turn, with Galdino nearly pulling ahead at the finish line but ultimately took second.

In the sprint medley, Brookyln Sandvig, Karynne David, Rachel Joseph and Makayla Clark combined for 3:44.53 for second, just .41 seconds off first. Joseph split 50.88 on her leg, the fastest 400m split by nearly three seconds.

The men and women added valuable points to the Relays Cup total in the 4x100m final, with the men taking fourth and women taking fifth. With only the 4x400m to go, the men led the Relays Cup race by 10 and women by two. The men clinched the Cup title at that point, while it came down to the 4x400m for the women. The women would go on to take fourth in the relay with 3:39.84.

Sydney Willits, competing unattached, battled Olympic champ Tara Davis-Woodhall in the World Athletics Continental Tour long jump and came out with an outdoor personal best of 21-5 ½ (6.54) to finish second.

ISU ends the Relays with titles in the women's steeplechase, men's 4x1,600m and men's sprint medley relay.

Following the Relays, Iowa State athletes will compete at the Desert Heat Classic in Tucson, Ariz. Saturday, May 3.

Iowa State Results

Hammer University Division (M): 1. Seth Schnakenberg, Nebraska – 205-10 (62.75m); 2. Garret Wagner, Iowa State – 200-10 (61.22m)

Hammer Championship (M): 1. Ryan Johnson, Iowa – 233-5 (71.16m); 6. Zach Verzani, Iowa State – 206-2 (62.85m)

Shuttle Hurdle Relay (M): 1. Iowa – 57.26; 8. Iowa State (Latham, Carr, Hartman, Spurgeon) – 1:00.03

Distance Medley Relay (W): 1. Utah – 11:07.60; 2. Iowa State (Heitzig, Moon, Beach, Heikes) – 11:09.58 (No. 2 ISU)
Distance Medley Relay (M): 1. SDSU – 9:37.05; 2. Iowa State (Da. Kipyego, Curcija, Harmon, Galdino) – 9:37.13 (No. 3 ISU)

110m Hurdles Final (M): 1. Darius Brown, DePaul – 13.58; 7. Jack Latham, Iowa State – 14.44

Sprint Medley Relay (W): 1. Iowa – 3:44.12; 2. Iowa State (Sandvig, David, Joseph, Clark) – 3:44.53

Sprint Medley Relay (M): 1. Iowa State (McClain, Koehnk, Blackman, De. Kipyego) – 3:17.23

Hammer University Division (W): 1. Cammy Garabian, Nebraska – 191-0 (58.22m); 3. Kaitlyn Burson, Iowa State – 190-7 (58.09m); 17. Ella O'Neall, Iowa State – 168-7 (51.38m)

Javelin University Division (M): 1. Carson Barnett, Northern State – 208-6 (63.55m); 8. Nathan Vincent, Iowa State – 181-2 (55.22m)

Long Jump WACT (W): 1. Tara Davis-Woodhall, Nike – 22-1 ¾ (6.75m); 2. Sydney Willits, unattached – 21-5 ½ (6.54m)

4x100m (W): 1. Ohio State – 43.91; 5. Iowa State (Laing, David, Burns, Sandvig) – 46.17

4x100m (M): 1. DePaul – 40.09; 4. Iowa State (Hartman, Curcija, Koehnk, McClain) – 40.89

4x400m Invite (W): 1. Iowa – 3:31.13; 4. Iowa State (Sandvig, Clark, Hubbard, Moon) – 3:39.84

4x400m Invite (M): 1. North Carolina A&T – 3:05.56; 6. Iowa State (Koehnk, Curcija, Jacobsen) – 3:12.78

Long Jump Championship (M): 1. Robert Atwater, Midland – 24-3 (7.39m); 3. Justin Gleason, Iowa State – 23-11 ¾ (7.31m)

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Players Mentioned

Riley Beach

Dugion Blackman

Kaitlyn Burson

Makayla Clark

Calvin Curcija

Karynne David

Emanuel Galdino

Justin Gleason

Jacoby Harmon

Bella Heikes

Becca Heitzig

Rachel Joseph

Darius Kipyego

Devan Kipyego

Ty Koehnk

Jack Latham

Mikey McClain

Cameron Moon

Ella O'Neall

Zach Verzani

Nathan Vincent

Garret Wagner

Sydney Willits

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