By: KSU Sports Information
Heat Sheet I
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The Kennesaw State men’s and women’s track and field team will travel a select squad to Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday for the annual Drake Relays.
This will be the first time the team has traveled to Drake Stadium to compete against some of the nation’s top student-athletes. The 14,557-seat stadium features premier competition from all across the United States and has seen 14 world records, 49 U.S. records and 56 national collegiate records set. The iconic blue track was reconfigured in 2008 and now features the new Mondo-surfaced track and has widened the lanes from 42 inches to 48 inches.
Representing the Owls on the men’s side is A-Sun Conference Champion Kendall Parks in the 110-meter hurdles. This is Parks second-to-last meet before Regionals, as he is looking to top his 13.95 seconds recorded during prelims last week.
“I think this meet will serve as a great opportunity to represent the rest of my teammates at Kennesaw State,” said Parks. “Getting to face such elite competition will give me a good chance to mentally prepare myself for regionals, and hopefully nationals.”
The 4x100 sequence of Parks, Sadio Diallo, Jemir Martinez and Reggie Lewis will combine to improve their 40.45 from outdoor conference. Martinez will also take the track individually, as he ran a qualifying time in the open 100-meter during the regular season. In the distance, conference champion Ryan Burruss will look to use the meet to improve his time of 9:20.94 from the previous week in the 3000m steeplechase. Representing the men off the track in the field events is senior Tyler Riberdy, as will be competing in the triple jump.
For the women it will be the combination of Brittany Robinson, Kentrell White, Victoria Jackson, and Latia Daniels to compete in the 4x400 meter. Suzee Mills and Shay Brachue will represent the Owls individually, as Mills 40.40m throw in the javelin and Barchue’s 5.53m long jump is good enough to receive an invitation.
“The Drake Relays is one of the most historic meets in Track and Field competition,” head coach Andy Eggerth said. “It has been around for decades and we are honored to be able to represent Kennesaw State. This is a great opportunity to compete against the some outstanding competition and we hope for some fast times.”
Action at the two-day event begins on Thursday at Drake Stadium with the decathlon at 9:30 a.m. and concludes Saturday evening with 4x400 relays. For updates about the Championship, you can follow the team on Twitter @KSUTrackFieldXC.
