Crouser leads trio of Tokyo gold medalists at Drake Relays

DES MOINES – Two-time Olympic champion and world record holder Ryan Crouser and two more Tokyo winners will add a wide swath of gold to the blue oval Saturday at Drake Stadium for the 112th running of the Drake Relays.
 
Crouser, who had a 26-meet winning streak broken at the World Indoor Championships in March, captured his second straight men’s shot put Olympic gold at Tokyo after setting the indoor world record in January and blasting an outdoor world record to win the Olympic Trials in June. He has been victorious in his past five appearances in Des Moines, including the last two Drake Relays titles and a USATF Outdoor Championships win in 2019. Crouser’s Olympic teammate, Payton Otterdahl, and World Indoor Championships fifth-place finisher Josh Awotunde also offer stout competition, along with Italy’s Nick Ponzio.
 
Jamaica's Hansle Parchment won the Tokyo gold in the men’s 110m hurdles and Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn took the women’s 100m hurdles gold, and both are favored here. Parchment will line up against Iowa alums Aaron Mallett, a World Indoor team member, and Jamal Britt, who was seventh at the Trials last summer, plus Michael Dickson, who was sixth at the Trials and has run 13.23 in his career. Australia’s Chris Douglas and Britain’s David King went 5-6 in the 60m hurdles at the World Indoor Championships last month.
 
Camacho-Quinn will contend with Tonea Marshall, who has the fastest time by an American this year at 12.46, second only to Camacho-Quinn’s 12.39 on the world list. Tia Jones has recorded a best of 12.59 in 2022. Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan, fourth at Tokyo, and Olympic semifinalist Christina Clemons are also in the mix, as is Britain’s Cindy Sember, who was fourth at Rio in 2016.
 
Not to be outdone in the barrier-clearing department, a pair of superb 400m hurdles races showcase an Olympic and world champion and former world record holder and the man who holds the No. 3 position on the world all-time list. Dalilah Muhammad won the Rio Games gold in 2016 and added World Championships gold at Doha in 2019, breaking her own world record in the process with a 52.16. She smashed her personal best last summer at Tokyo, clocking a stunning 51.58 for silver.
 
Jamaican Janieve Russell just missed the Olympic podium in fourth and Panama’s Gianna Woodruff was seventh in that race. Anna Cockrell was a finalist after sweeping the NCAA hurdles golds for USC earlier in 2021. Muhammad’s toughest foe may be Shamier Little, the fifth-fastest woman in history with a lifetime best of 52.39.
 
Brazil’s Alison dos Santos is the third-fastest man in history in the 400m hurdles with a 46.72 that earned him bronze in Tokyo and he is hot off a big lifetime best of 44.54 in the flat 400 at the USATF Golden Games. Khallifah Rosser sits atop the 2022 world list with a 48.26, with Olympic semifinalist David Kendziera at No. 8 this year with a 49.20 set in winning the Texas Relays. Three other Tokyo semifinalists are also slated to compete, along with Aldrich Bailey, who was fourth at the Trials, and 2019 Pan American Games silver medalist Amere Lattin.
 
The vertical jumps boast an American record holder and Olympic silver medalist, Chris Nilsen, who leads a strong U.S. contingent in the men’s pole vault. He will face Tokyo fourth-place finisher KC Lightfoot, a fellow member of the 6m club. Nilsen twice broke the American record indoors this year, with a best of 6.05m/19-10.25, and was the 2019 Drake Relays champion.
 
2016 World Indoor champion Vashti Cunningham has dominated the U.S. scene in the women’s high jump with 10 national titles and a PR of 2.02m/6-7.5 that puts her fourth on the all-time American performer list, and she is still only 24 years old. Cunningham was sixth at the Tokyo Games and earned bronze at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. Olympians Rachel McCoy and Inika McPherson are the closest to Cunningham on paper with lifetime bests of 1.96m/6-5.
 
Last year’s Olympic bronze medalist in the women’s long jump, Nigeria’s Ese Brume, was the silver medalist at the World Indoor Championships last month and bronze medalist at the 2019 World Championships and has a lifetime best of 7.17m/23-6.25. Heptathlete Kendell Williams joined the 7m club last year with a 7.00m/22-11.75 effort and was fifth in the seven-eventer at Tokyo.
 
Canada’s Christabel Nettey claimed Commonwealth gold in 2018 and has spanned 6.99m/22-11.25 in her career, while Quanesha Burks was third at the Trials in 2021 and fifth at this year’s World Indoor Championships. Sha’Keela Saunders is a two-time World Championships team member and was the 2015 Pan American Games bronze medalist. Not to be overlooked, American triple jump record holder Keturah Orji was the Pan American Games silver medalist in the long jump in 2019 and won the 2018 NCAA title for Georgia.
 
Middle-distance events will feature 2016 Olympic 800m bronze medalist Clayton Murphy and Tokyo Olympian Isaiah Jewett. Murphy will run the 1,500 here and defend the Drake title he won last year. He has a lifetime best of 3:36.23 and was the NCAA champion for Akron in 2016. Olympic Trials 3,000m steeplechase winner Hillary Bor and Dan Michalski, who was fourth in that race, are two Americans of interest, and New Zealander Sam Tanner was an Olympian last summer and has a best of 3:34.72.
 
Jewett was the runner-up in the Trials 800m after winning the NCAA title for USC, and then made the semifinals in Tokyo. He has a best of 1:43.85, but some of the loudest cheers from the Iowa faithful will undoubtedly come for Erik Sowinski, the 2016 World Indoor bronze medalist and a familiar face after many appearances in Des Moines. Shane Streich bettered the American indoor record in the 1,000m this year and sports a best of 1:45.85 in the 800m, while Puerto Rico’s Ryan Sanchez was the 2019 Pan American Games bronze medalist and has run 1:44.82.
 
The women’s 800m and 1,500m are wide-open affairs. Allie Wilson had a breakout season last year and ended up finishing sixth in the 800m at the Trials with a big lifetime best of 1:59.02. Chrisann Gordon-Powell of Jamaica, a gold medalist in the 4x400m relay at the 2015 World Championships, has moved up in distance and lowered her personal best to 2:01.47 last weekend. There are a slew of challengers who have all run under 2:01, including Americans Kendra Chambers and Emily Richards.
 
Britain’s Holly Archer was the European indoor silver medalist in the 1,500m last year, but Sweden’s Yolanda Ngarambe has the fastest lifetime best in the field at 4:03.43, set in the semifinals at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. Katie Follett has the second best PR in the field at 4:03.81 and was eighth in the 3,000m at the 2018 World Indoor Championships. Mexico’s Laura Galvan was the 2019 Pan American Games gold medalist at 5,000m.
 
Olympic Trials seventh-place finisher Erin Reese tops the women’s hammer throw field with a lifetime best of 72.53m/237-11, but Lara Boman is not far off that with a best of 71.00m/232-11  and was ninth at the Trials.
 
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