The Panther’s track and field team traveled to Des Moines this past week, April 22-25, to compete in the Drake Relays. This meet rises in popularity every year and gathers ranked teams from multiple conferences into one event. UNI earned a number of personal records on top of rising in their overall ranks in the MVC conference.

Starting off the meet Wednesday with decathlon and heptathlon preliminaries, the Panthers started strong, directing their momentum towards the finals competition.

Freshman Derek Jacobus made his mark on his first collegiate Drake Relay experience. Earning an overall PR in the decathlon, Jacobus PR’ed in both the pole vault and 1,500-meter events and took fourteenth place overall.

In the women’s heptathlon, Rachel Peth earned her PR with 4,864 total points. With her added PR’s in long jump and javelin throw, Peth is now ranked second in the MVC.

Transitioning into Friday’s events, Lady Panther Alex Wilson continued to improve in the 1,500. Not only did her 4:20.49 time place her third overall in the relays, she increased her lead in the MVC, scoring seven seconds faster than her nearest competitor.

Moving up to the third fastest time in UNI history, the women’s 4X100 shuttle hurdle team of Christine MacNeill, Jennifer Roberts, Chaley Rath and Rachel Peth placed fourth overall with a final time of 57.90.

UNI’s men’s 4X110 team also made their mark on the UNI scoreboard, with the fifth best shuttle hurdle time in Panther history. Sebastian Barth, Jayvon Matthews, Jon Rus and Daurice Fountian completed Drake’s 4X110 in 58.23.

The Panther 4X100-meter relay team earned their PR this weekend, as well. Consisting of Cam Brown, Brett McCalla, Jordan Guske and Brandon Carnes, the team’s 40.97 time ranked them second in the MVC.

Sophomore Brandon Carnes, earned fourth overall in the 100-meter dash. Carnes’s 10.49 time secured his position as head of the MVC conference.

Looking ahead, UNI’s track and field team will travel to Iowa City to compete in the Musco Invitational on May 2.