America's two premier track and field carnivals will host 26 elite events this weekend as the 2026 USATF Tour lands at the Drake Relays and Penn Relays. Both meets are also part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver circuit that offers valuable rankings points and cash prizes.
Continental Tour competition at Drake got under way in Des Moines, Iowa, Thursday afternoon with the men's and women's hammer and javelin. Action on the blue oval begins Friday evening with the women's steeplechase, and then the final nine events will be featured on Saturday. All 12 Penn Relays events will be contested on Saturday at Philadelphia's historic Franklin Field, including eight races on the oval and four field events.
Drake Relays event previews
A pair of compelling pole vault competitions highlight the field event schedule on Saturday as many of the same athletes who thrilled an indoor crowd at the Jordan Creek Mall Vault on Monday move back outdoors to vie for bragging rights. Four of the top seven men in U.S. vault history and three of the top 10 women are slated to compete.
The men's American record holder, KC Lightfoot, won on Monday with a 5.91/19-4.75 clearance and takes on reigning USATF Indoor champion Zach Bradford, who won that U.S. title with a 6.01/19-8.5 clearance to become the eighth American member of the 6-meter club. They will be joined two-time world champion and 2024 Olympic silver medalist Sam Kendricks, who set his PB of 6.06/19-10.5 at Drake to win the USATF title in 2019, and indoor American record holder Chris Nilsen, a 6.05/19-10.25 performer and the 2021 Olympic silver medalist.
One of only two American women ever to have cleared 5.00 meters, Sandi Morris is No. 2 on the all-time U.S. performer list with a PB of 5.00/16-4.75. Morris was Monday's women's winner at 4.75/15-7 and owns two World Indoor golds and an Olympic silver from 2016. Three-time reigning world champion Katie Moon was the 2021 Olympic champion and ranks No. 3 all-time with a best of 4.95/16-2.75. She ended up second Monday based on more misses at 4.75. Tied for ninth on the U.S. all-time list, Emily Grove equaled her PB of 4.75/15-7 last year, while Chloe Timberg captured her first USATF indoor title in March and has a best of 4.72/15-5.75.
Wednesday's winner of the World Shot Put Series event, Roger Steen, is favored to take the outdoor victory, too, hot off his big midweek throw. Steen won his first USATF indoor gold this year and took bronze at the World Indoor Championships. He was the silver medalist at World Indoors last year and has a PB of 22.11/72-6.5. Nigeria's Chuk Enekwechi was fifth at the World Championships last year and sixth at the 2024 Olympics, and he has a career best only one centimeter behind Steen. 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Rajindra Campbell of Jamaica is one of the few lefties in the elite ranks of the event, and has a PB of 22.31/73-2.5, while 2022 World Championships bronze medalist Josh Awotunde won the USATF outdoor crown last year with a 22.47/73-8.75 PB.
Tantalizing matchups are set in the sprint hurdles, with the fifth fastest American woman ever in the 100 hurdles, Tonea Marshall, taking on USATF indoor 60 hurdles champion Alia Armstrong, the ninth fastest U.S. woman ever, and two-time Pan American Games gold medalist Andrea Carolina Vargas of Costa Rica. Marshall finished fifth at most recent USATF Championships and Olympic Trials and clocked her PB of 12.24 in Poland last August. That time also ranks her seventh on the all-time world performer list. Armstrong's PB of 12.32 also came in that race, and she was just off the podium at the 2022 World Championships in fourth.
The men's 110 hurdles have current world leader Jamal Britt, who zipped to a 13.07 to win at the Miramar Invitational, the second stop on the USATF Tour. He will line up against Britain's Tade Ojora, an Olympic semifinalist at Paris, and Giano Roberts of Jamaica, the 2023 NCAA indoor 60H champion. Connor Schulman is another American worth keeping an eye on after he equaled his second fastest time ever last week in Florida.
Olympic semifinalist CJ Allen makes his '26 outdoor debut in the men's 400 hurdles, bringing a PB of 47.58 to go against Clement Ducos of France. Ducos was fourth at the Olympic Games in his home country two years ago and shares the honor of fastest man in the field on paper with Malik James-King of Jamaica at 47.42.Another Jamaican, Assinie Wilson, opened this season with a quick 48.29 in March at Kingston and has represented his country at the past two World Championships.
Two-time World Championships silver medalist and 2024 Olympic 4x400 gold medalist Shamier Little is the seventh fastest woman ever over the 400 hurdles with a PB of 52.39 that was set in 2021. She anchored Team USATF to gold in the 4x400 at the World Indoor Championships last month and is making her season debut over the barriers. Switching allegiance from the U.S. to the Philippines in 2023, Lauren Hoffman repped her new nation at the Paris Olympics and has a PB of 55.47. She was second at this meet in 2024. Jamaica's Sanique Walker should also be in contention for a podium spot based on her PB of 54.94.
In the women's mile, USATF 1 Mile Road champion Addy Wiley will be the heavy favorite should she choose to double back after winning the Grand Blue Mile on Wednesday. Wiley won the USATF Indoor 800 gold last month and followed up with a bronze at the World Indoor Championships. She has an outdoor 1500 PB of 3:59.17 and set an American record of 2:30.71 in the 1000 last summer at Monaco. 2016 World U20 1500 bronze medalist Christina Aragon has a mile PB of 4:25.30 and was sixth in the 3000 at the USATF Indoor Championships, and Taryn Parks lowered her indoor mile PB to 4:23.10 in February.
Two-time NCAA champion Joe Waskom repped Team USATF at the 2023 World Championships and has a best of 3:33.74 in the 1500. That time placed him seventh at the 2024 Olympic Trials. A big indoor PB of 3:33.85 moved former Texas A&M star Cooper Cawthra into the national conversation this year, while former NCAA Division II standout Titouan Le Grix of France was ninth at the World Indoor Championships and has a PB of 3:32.81. One other sub-3:34 performer, Waleed Suliman, is also likely to contend for a podium spot based on his 3:33.82 PB.
Israel's Adva Cohen, who competed collegiately for New Mexico, has the fastest entry time in the women's 3000 steeplechase at 9:19.90, run in the heats at the World Championships last year. The top American entrant is Angelina Ellis, who was eighth at the 2025 USATF Championships and has a best of 9:22.03, while India's Ankita Dhiyani set her lifetime best of 9:27.91 last weekend in California.
Penn Relays event previews
Global relay medalists are in abundance in the men's and women's 400, with Team USATF's Justin Robinson, Demarius Smith and Jenoah Mckiver picking up 4x400 golds in the past two years, and Rosey Effiong and Bailey Lear mounting the podium in the women's 4x400 at this year's World Indoor Championships. Talitha Diggs was a gold medalist in the women's 4x400 at the 2022 World Championships and has a PB of 49.93. Haiti's Wadeline Venlogh is a former American internationalist who earned gold on the U.S. women's 4x400 at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and has a PB of 49.60. Jamaica's men are represented by 2024 Olympian Deandre Watkin and World Indoor 4x400 bronze medalist Delano Kennedy, both sub-45 performers.
Three women who are best known for their exploits in the 800 drop down half a lap to contest the 600, led by sub-2:00 800 performers Michaela Rose, Olivia Baker, and Victoria Bossong. Baker has the fastest 600 PB of the trio at 1:25.28. Gabriel Moronta of the Dominican Republic is the fastest of the men's 600 entrants with a PB of 1:15.45, and he anchored South Florida to 4x400 gold at last year's NCAA Championships.
Bringing a wealth of experience and excellence to the women's 800, 12-time USATF champion Ajee' Wilson has five global medals in the event and is the former indoor and outdoor American record holder with an outdoor PB of 1:55.61. Her main rival will be three-time U.S. champion Nia Akins, a semifinalist at Paris '24 who was sixth at the 2023 World Championships and has run 1:57.36 in her career. Nigeria's Edose Ibadin is the fastest of the men's field with a PB of 1:44.65, but 2024 NCAA champion Shane Cohen and 2026 World Indoor Championships team member Sean Dolan offer stern opposition alongside sub-1:45 man Jonah Hoey.
Middle distance fans will be treated to a men's mile matchup between Eric Holt, who set his PB of 3:51.46 here two years ago, and Ben Allen, who improved to 3:52.08 indoors this spring. In the women's 1500 Japan's Nozomi Tanaka is the leading entrant with a PB of 3:59.19, a time that earned her eighth place at the 2021 Olympic Games.
On the infield, the women's high jump has two American members of the 2.00-meter club and an up-and-coming star in Charity Hufnagel. Vashti Cunningham has dominated the American scene since winning the 2016 World Indoor gold at age 18. She is the No. 3 all-time U.S. performer with a PB of 2.02/6-7.5 and has won 16 national titles. Former Arkansas star Rachel Glenn is tied for seventh on the all-time U.S. performer list with a 2.00/6-6.75 PB that won her the 2024 NCAA Indoor gold. Glenn was an Olympian at Paris and is also a world-class 400 hurdler. Hufnagel won four times on the European indoor circuit before taking gold at the USATF Indoor Championships in February and has cleared a PB of 1.96/6-5 this season. Sanaa Barnes was the silver medalist at last year's USATF Championships to earn a trip to the Tokyo World Championships.
Shelby McEwen was the silver medalist in the men's high jump at Paris and also took silver at the 2024 World Indoor Championships. He has a best of 2.36/7-8.75 that ties him for eighth on the all-time U.S. performer list. He faces Vernon Turner, the 2025 USATF Indoor champion who has a best of 2.33/7-7.75, and Eli Kosiba, who placed fourth at last year's World Indoors.
Reigning Olympic champion Thea LaFond of Dominica is very familiar with the Penn setup after competing collegiately for Maryland, and she tops the women's triple jump entry list with a PB of 15.02/49-3.5. LaFond first competed at Penn as a high schooler in 2011. Her top challenger will be Cuba's Davisleidis Velazco, an Olympian in 2021 who has a lifetime best of 14.72/48-3.5. Salif Mane was sixth in the men's triple jump at the 2024 Olympics and won the 2024 NCAA gold for Fairleigh Dickinson. Mane has a PB of 17.52/57-5.75 that gave him the 2024 Olympic Trials title. World Indoor silver medalist Jordan Scott of Jamaica has the same PB as Mane and was fifth at Tokyo last fall.
Wiltrout becomes No. 6 all-time American in women's javelin
Continuing her unbeaten streak in 2026, Madison Wiltrout uncorked a huge lifetime best in the final round of the women's javelin Thursday evening at the Drake Relays, hitting 63.74/209-1 to add eight feet to her previous PB and move to the No. 6 spot on the all-time U.S. performer list. Wiltrout, who won the USATF Winter Long Throws Championship to open her '26 campaign, turned back NCAA record holder Rhema Otabor of the Bahamas, who ended up second at 60.83/199-7, and New Zealand's Tori Moorby, who was seventh at last year's World Championships. Moorby placed third with a best of 59.12/193-11.
The men's javelin was a much closer affair. 2025 World Championships bronze medalist Curtis Thompson needed a big throw to overcome a lifetime best from Marc Anthony Minichello, and he got that in the fifth round when the spear landed at 84.63/277-8. Minichello, a two-time NCAA champion, had taken the lead in round two with a throw of 80.31/263-6 and then launched a PB of 84.11/275-11 in the fourth round to move to No. 7 on the all-time U.S. performer list.
2022 world champion Brooke Andersen had three throws good enough to win the women's hammer, topped by a 78.56/257-9 in the fourth round. On her heels was Minnesota's Anthonett Nabwe of Liberia, who raised her lifetime best by almost two meters to 77.64/254-9 and missed the collegiate record by only three centimeters. Rachel Richeson's 76.99/252-7 was enough to secure third ahead of China's 19-year-old Jiale Zhang, the bronze medalist at Tokyo and the world U20 record holder. Paris Olympic Games silver medalist Annette Echikunwoke was fifth, with China's Jie Zhao sixth. Zhao earned silver at Tokyo and bronze at the '24 Games.
American record holder Rudy Winkler defended the title he won here last year in the men's hammer, propelling the 16-pound implement out to 78.75/258-4 to win by more than five feet. Winkler's opening throw of 77.40/253-11 would have been enough for victory as the runner-up spot went to Air Force Academy's Texas Tanner. Tanner, who last week set an American collegiate record, hit 77.16/253-2 in round five and placed second ahead of Greece's Christos Frantzekakis, an Olympic finalist in 2024. Frantzekakis notched his best throw in round one at 76.27/250-2.