All-American Christian Goy and the Redbirds continued action at the 92nd annual Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday, turning in several season bests at one of the largest outdoor meets of the season.
Goy helped spark the mens 4 x 800 meter relay team that finished eighth in a fast field. The Redbirds, Eric Duda, Dan Schrock, Goy and Peter Madsen, clocked a season-best time of 7:33.09, finishing just .79 seconds behind Brigham Young for seventh place. The new time was nearly 20 seconds faster then previous season-best of 7:50.47.
Schrock ran a lifetime best split time and those guys just all turned in solid efforts, head coach Jeff Pigg said.
In a highly competitive womens triple jump which included American record-holder and Olympian Sheila Hudson, Illinois States Monique Haan and Nicole Blow both set new season bests. Haan finished 10th with a leap of 39 6, while Blow jumped 38 10 1/4 to take 15th place.
Both women hit season bests and that probably put both of them near the top in the conference so far this season, Pigg said.
Alia Hoyle ran in the womens 100 meter dash, finishing fifth in her preliminary with a time of 12.35.
Alia got some good experience in a very good field, Pigg said. She lined up against some strong competition and it provided a good learning experience for her and something to build on.
It was a beautiful day and there are some great athletes here competing, Pigg said. Its fun to be a part of a competition of this size and were looking forward to some strong performances tomorrow.
The Drake Relays continue Saturday. Kathrine Nielsen will be competing in the high jump and also running as part of the sprint medley relay, which also features Hoyle, Andrea Black and Egle Kregzdyte. In the mens distance relay Goy, Duda, Schrock and Madsen team up one again and the Redbirds will also participate in the mens sprint medley relay.
