The UK Track and Field team competed in the Drake Relays from Thursday, April 28 to Saturday, May 1. Both the men and the women competed in several events from the 200m to javelin. The competition was held at several facilities on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.  

Starting out on Thursday, the Cats got rolling with Crestwood, Kentucky native Rachel Boice running 20th in the women’s 1500M run, clocking a time of 4:34.68.Next in the women’s 5000M, senior Kelli Walsh finished 13th with a time of 17:11.82, while her teammate, junior Kaylie Kenne finished 21st in 17:22.62.  

In the women’s 800-meter run, junior DeAnna Martin ran sixth out of 18 participants with a time of 2:10.30. Also on the day, sophomore Harper Moore came in 27th in the men’s 1500-meter run. That would conclude the Wildcat involvement on the day.  

On Saturday morning, UK would get going via the women’s triple jump event. Arkansas transfer Sophie Galloway and freshman Kendall Jordan would compete in the event. Galloway would see herself finish just outside the top-10 with an 11th place finish, jumping 12.08 meters. Jordan’s jump of 11.24 meters would place her in 21st.  

In the women’s javelin throw final, junior Annika Williams placed 17th with a throw with a throw of 37.27M. Skipping to the women’s 800-meter final, this event would see junior Bryanna Lucas finish runner up to Illinois State’s Rachel Hickey. In the women’s 400-meter hurdle final, senior Masai Russell would win the event with a quick time of 56.27.  

In the women’s pole vault final, the Cats would feature the duo of the senior Siobhan Szerencsits and freshman Payton Phillips. Szerencsits would tie for fourth in the event with a distance of 4.02 meters. Phillips would find herself tied for 16th after her vault of 3.87.  

In the women’s discus final, freshman Areti Filipidou would record a fourth-place result with a throw of 52.32 meters. Also in the top-10 was graduate student Molly Leppelmeier, who finished eighth and threw her discus 51.14 meters.  

In the men’s 400-meter hurdle final, graduate student Kenroy Williams placed second with a time of 50.57. Meanwhile, sophomore Beck O’Daniel received a DQ from the event. In the men’s long jump, senior Robert Springfield III placed eighth with a jump of 7.38 meters. In the men’s shot-put final, senior Joshua Sobota received a distance of 18.58 on his throw, putting him in seventh for the event.   

In the women’s 4x200 meter relay, Kentucky would take the cake with a time of 1:32.98. In the women’s 1500-meter finals, the Wildcats would have one participant in senior Perri Bockrath. Her time of 4:22.44 would slot her in fifth. In the women’s shot-put final, Leppelmeier finished seventh with her throw of 15.68 meters. 

The women’s 4x800 meter relay team would also find victory with their time of 8:25.25. Yet another first place finish would come for the Cats as the men’s 4x200 meter relay team would outrun the competition and win their event with a time of 1:23.11.  

In the men’s high jump final, grad student Matthew Peare won the event vaulting 5.36 meters. Senior Joseph Jardine and sophomore Dalton Shepler placed ninth and 11th respectively with vaults of 5.06 and 4.86 meters.  

In the men’s high jump final, senior Rahman Minor would tie for first with his jump of 2.16 meters. Finally, Kentucky would place sixth in the men’s 4x800 meter relay with a time of 7:27.75. 

On Saturday, the Cats would look to finish out the Relays in excellent fashion. First off would be the women’s shuttle hurdles. In the finals, the four-person team of Russell, Khan, Jordan, and Williams would place fourth with a time of 1:01.86.

In the women’s distance medley final, the team of McCowan, Moss, Gearing, and Herman would take third place with a time of 11:21.15. The men’s distance team of Allen, O’Daniel, Brizendine, and Allen would place eleventh with a time of 9:57.07