WACO, Texas - For the 24th time in the last 26 years, Baylor's track and field team will compete at the Drake Relays Thursday through Saturday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.
BU is slated to have 16 men and 15 women in action over three days of action at the 107th annual meet. In the latest USTFCCCA rankings, the men are listed at No. 33, while the women are 17th.
The Baylor contingent will open up in Iowa with the men taking part in the 4x1600-meter relay on Thursday evening at 5:05 p.m. Senior Matt Galvin will then run in the 10,000 meter event at 8:10 p.m. Peyton Thomas will complete BU’s first day by competing in the 5,000 meters at 8:40 p.m.
Friday action for BU will begin with the hurdlers running at 9:45 a.m., followed by the field events at 1 p.m. On Saturday, the men’s discus kicks things off at 9 a.m. with the sprint medley relay opening the running events at 10 a.m.
This will be Baylor's second "relays" meet of the season, after competing at the Texas Relays. The Bears are set to have five relay teams on the women's side (4x100, 4x400, 4x800, sprint medley and distance medley), while the men will have four in action (4x100, 4x400, 4x1600 and sprint medley).
In 2014, the Baylor women won the Hy-Vee Cup, which is given to the team with the best combined finishes in five relay events, the 4x100, 4x400, 4x800, distance medley and sprint medley, at the meet.
Last week at its second home meet of the season, the Bears racked up eight event wins at the Michael Johnson Invitational.
The women have seven marks that currently rank in the NCAA top 20 for the 2016 outdoor season. Taylor Bennett leads that group with the fourth-best 200-meter time in the country at 22.71.
Annie Rhodes' school record pole vault of 14-7.25 [4.45m] was achieved at the Ricardo Romo Invitational and is currently the fifth-best clearance in the NCAA. Meanwhile in the 400-meter hurdles, Kiana Hawn has the 16th-fastest mark with a time of 57.48, which she set at the Texas Relays. Both of Baylor's women's relays, the 4x1 and 4x4, are top 20 with the sprint group at No. 13 in 43.69 and the quartemile crew at No. 15 in 3:32.31.
Kiana Horton is the lone Bear, who has two marks in the top-20. She is at No. 19 in the 100 meters with a time of 11.31 and No. 18 in the 200 meters with a time of 23.02.
On the men's side, three marks are top-20 in the NCAA, led by freshman Wil London's 45.28 in the 400 meters, which is fourth-best. The men's 4x400-meter relay is eighth in the country with a time of 3:04.24, while Felix Obi is 12th in the triple jump at 52-5.5 [15.99m].
Last year at the Drake Relays, the Bears combined for nine top-four finishes across their men’s and women’s squads.
After the Drake Relays meet, Baylor will have another off week as the Bears prepare for the Big 12 Championship in Fort Worth, Texas, May 13-15.
