April 23, 2015
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Three Wildcats established personal bests on Thursday under the lights in the Distance Carnival at the 106th Drake Relays. Junior Elena Barham and sophomores Andrea Ostenso and Jena Pianin all clocked personal records at one of the nation's most prestigious track & field events.
2015 Drake Relays - RESULTS
Sophomores Andrea Ostenso and Jena Pianin both finished among the Top-10 in the 5000m race and both established new personal records in the event. Ostenso crossed the line in 16:32.36, good for sixth place, while classmate Pianin turned in a time of 16:34.22 to finish tenth.
Junior Elena Barham clocked a personal best as well, finishing the 10,000m event in 36:09.84.
The fourth and final Wildcats runner at "America's Athletic Classic" this weekend will be freshman Isabel Seidel in the 3000m Steeplechase on Saturday, April 25, at 10:40 a.m. in Drake Stadium.
Since the inaugural event in 1910, the Drake Relays have evolved into one of the most significant and respected track & field events in the United States. Hundreds of Olympic gold medalists have competed at Drake Stadium including Michael Johnson, Carl Lewis, Jesse Owens, Wilma Rudolph, Frank Shorter, Gwen Torrence, and Jeremy Wariner. Hundreds more Drake Relays competitors have gone onto compete in the Olympic Games, including 113 former athletes at the 2012 Olympics.
"The Drake Relays allow our program to showcase Northwestern's top runners in a very prestigious event," said Wildcats head coach April Likhite. "The fact that we have individuals running at Drake shows the exciting progress our program is making. Most importantly, those student-athletes are getting the opportunity to compete against some of the best runners in the country."
The Drake Relays have welcomed a capacity crowd (14,504) on the final day of competition for 48 consecutive years. The 2014 event drew a total attendance of 45,838 during the multi-day competition.
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