Crouser's World Shot Put Series, Iowa Greats Houlihan vs. Schweizer In Mile, World-Class Field Events Headline College & Pro Events At "America's Athletic Classic"

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

DyeStat archival photos

The Drake Relays presented by Xtream welcome one of its most intriguing fields of collegiate and professional competitors to Drake Stadium this week, April 23-26, in Des Moines, Iowa, for the 115th edition of “America’s Athletic Classic.”

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Here are 10 storylines to follow.

Inaugural World Shot Put Series

The Drake Relays have hosted unique shot put competitions over the years. This year’s meet will feature a new twist with an inaugural event taking place on Wednesday at the Drake Fieldhouse.

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Ryan Crouser will be hosting and competing in the first World Shot Put Series, a competition designed to give fans a unique perspective on how challenging the event is while watching the best shot putters in the world showcasing their abilities.

The WSPS will include both an “open field” and “professional field”, featurning college and world-class talent.

The contest will be organized in a “king of the ring” format where throwers will be tasked to throw the shot put past a certain distance to advance in competition. Athletes will get two attempts to clear the distance. Failing to meet that distance on two attempts will result in elimination. Placement will be determined by the furthest line cleared with ties broken by the total of all misses by each competitor.

Joining Crouser in the professional field will be Paris Olympics bronze medalist Rajindra Campbell from Jamaica, Nanjing world indoor medalists Roger Steen and Tripp Piperi from the United States, Americans Jordan Geist, Payton Otterdahl, Josh Awotunde, Nigerian Chukwueba Enekwechi and Italian Nick Ponzio.

All nine of those competitors, in addition to American Paralympian Josh Cinnamo, will all return for Saturday’s outdoor competition.

Iowans Shelby Houlihan, Karissa Schweizer Duel In Mile

A pair of fellows Iowans will begin their long outdoor seasons as the main headliners of an exciting women’s mile taking place on Saturday.

Shelby Houlihan, a native of Sioux City, makes her return to the Blue Oval for the first time since 2019 when she won a pair of USATF titles in both the 5,000 meters and mile races.

Since serving her four-year ban for testing posting for nandrolone, Houlihan’s return to racing has been nothing but impressive, earning silver at the World Indoor Championship in Nanjing, China, in the women’s 3,000 meters, and finishing top five in both the 1,500 and 3,000 at the USATF Indoor Championships on Staten Island. Houlihan has won eight Drake Relay titles in her career.

Karissa Schweizer, a two-time Olympian and native of Urbandale, will look to add a 14th Drake Relays medal to her name in her return to Des Moines for the first time since finishing second at the USATF Outdoor Championships in the 5,000.

In the six times Houlihan and Schweizer have raced against each other in the 1,500/mile discipline, Houlihan has never lost to Schweizer. Their most recent race against one another was when they were teammates for the Bowerman Track Club back in 2020 in an intrasquad meet. Houlihan ran 4 minutes, 2.37 seconds to Schweizer’s 4:02.81.

Both Houlihan and Schweizer are also entered in Tuesday’s USATF 1-Mile Championships at the Grand Blue Mile.

Defending USAT 1-Mile champion Rachel McArthur enters both races, along with Krissy Gear, Dani Jones, Eleanor Fulton and Jenn Randall.

Oregon’s Silan Ayyildiz, the collegiate indoor mile record holder, and Wilma Nielsen, the NCAA indoor mile champion, are the top collegians entered.

Woodhalls Takeover

The dynamic married couple of Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall are both bringing their talents to the Blue Oval as both the reigning Olympic and Paralympic champions.

Paris Olympic gold medalist and reigning world champion Tara Davis-Woodhall headlines the women’s long jump field, competing for the first time since her final meet of 2024 season at the Rome Diamond League where she completed an undefeated season in the long jump.

David-Woodhall will go up against fellow American Quanesha Burks, a 2021 Tokyo Olympian, and Esme Brume, the national Nigerian national record holder and three-time Olympian. 

Paris Paralympic gold medalist Hunter Woodhall will be racing against a stacked field of 400 competitors: Jamaican Olympians Sean Bailey and Zandrion Barnes, 2019 world outdoor 4x400 relay champion Wil London and three-time Nigerian champion Chidi Okezie. 

Vincent Ciattei Aims For Road Mile/1500 Sweep

Vincent Ciattei will be chasing for more than a second consecutive USATF 1-Mile road title this week. The 1,500 is also within his sights.

Ciattei won his second USATF national title of his career on the streets of downtown Des Moines while also setting a course record in 3:56.97. Four days later, he finished second to John Reniewicki in the 1,500 by a little over a tenth-of-a-second.

In addition to Ciattei returning, Alec Basten (3rd), Abraham Alvarado (fourth), Shane Streich (seventh) Nick Randazzo (10th) and Tanner Maier (11th) are all back from last year’s USATF 1 Mile Championships.

Sam Prakel, the 2023 USATF 1 Mile champion, returns for another crack at a national title, along with his training partner Sam Ellis, who recently ran 3:35.57 at the Bryan Clay Invitational.

Olin Hacker, Craig Engels, Casey Comber and Josh Thompson add more intrigue to an impressive road mile field.

Joining Ciattei in Saturday’s 1,500 will be Isaac Basten, Engels, Maier, Streich and Thompson.

Masai Russell’s Golden Tour Goes Through Iowa

Masai Russell has had her fair share of success at the Drake Relays, but it’s been a few years since she’s graced the track at the Blue Oval.

The Paris Olympic gold medalist makes her return to Drake Stadium to race in the women’s 100 hurdles for the first time since 2022 when she was sporting the Kentucky kit as a collegiate. Russell earned a Drake Relays title in the 400 hurdles and a runner-up finish in the 100 hurdles.

Russell has yet to win a 100 hurdles race to begin the new season. She opened up at the first Grand Slam Track in Kingston, Jamaica, finishing fifth in the 100 hurdles and finishing sixth overall in the “short hurdle” category. This past weekend in Gainesville, Fla., at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational, she ran a season’s best 12.62 in the preliminary round but ultimately finished second in the final.

Racing Russell, who aims for her first win of the new outdoor season, will be defending Drake Relays champion and 2024 Olympian Denisha Cartwright from The Bahamas. Cartwright, representing NCAA Division II Minnesota State, won last year’s hurdle race in 12.71 before going onto set the Division II record in 12.60 two weeks after.

Last year’s runner-up to Cartwright, Demisha Roswell, is another returner. American Gabbi Cunningham, Costa Rican national record holder and Olympian Andrea Vargas, four-time Puerto Rican national champion Paola Vazequez and St. Lucian Aasia Laurencin are among other noteworthy competitors.

Collegiate Record Watch In Women’s 4x800 Relay

In less than a year, the collegiate record in the women’s 4x800 relay has been broken twice.

Washington first broke it at the Penn Relays in April of 2024, running 8:17.28. Most recently Arkansas lowered it to 8:16.12 at the Texas Relays in late march of this year.

Oregon has a chance to one up both those times this weekend with an elite lineup.

The potential lineup the Ducks could send to the track Friday night could include Polish Olympic finalist Klaudia Kazimierska, NCAA indoor All-Americans Ella Nelson, Ali Ince and Mia Barnett or Big Ten indoor scorer Samantha McDonnell.

Kazimierska, a sub-4-minute 1,500 runner, owns a personal best of 2:00.23, which is fifth all-time in Oregon history. Ince is the second fastest in 2:03.17, a time she ran in high school as a junior, followed by Nelson (2:03.21), Barnett (2:03.78) and McDonnell (2:05.96).

Steeple Fun

Both the men’s and women’s steeplechase fields feature a range of competitors from the national and global scene.

Thursday’s men’s race includes American Daniel Michalski. The former NCAA Division 2 national champion and Division 1 All-American has achieved a Pan American Games silver medal and has been a U.S. championship finalist as a post-collegiate racer.

Comber, Randazzo and Riley Osen are all entered along with entries in the USATF 1-Mile Championships on Tuesday.

In the women’s race, being contested Friday night, Paris Olympians Parul Chaudary and Ankita Dhyani from India headline the field with their renowned credentials. Chaudary is the Indian national record holder with a personal best of 9:15.31 and a four-time Indian national champion. Dhyani is also a four-time Indian national champion.

Anita Konieczek from Poland is another Olympian in the field, having qualified for the Polish team twice in her career. Konieczek finished third in last year’s steeplechase at Drake.

Americans Angelina Ellis and Logan Jolly are another pair of returning competitors from the 2024 meet. Ellis finished second in a personal best 9:25.25; Jolly finished fourth. Canadian Grace Fetherstonhaugh, seventh last year, is back, too.

Deep Hammer Fields Assembled

If Camryn Rogers’ season opener at the Mt. SAC Relays this last weekend is any indication of how the hammer will play out this year, be prepared for more fireworks.

The Drake Relays have assembled world-class line-ups for both the men’s and women’s competitions, headlined by Rudy Winkler and Brooke Anderson.

Winkler, the American record holder in hammer, returns to Des Moines for the first time since winning the Drake Relays hammer title in 2023, throwing 76.70 meters (251-7). Since then, Winkler’s gone on to compete at the Budapest World Outdoor Championships and last summer’s Paris Olympics, where he finished sixth overall.

Geist, who will have already thrown in the World Shot Put Series on Wednesday, makes the quick turnaround for Thursday’s hammer contest at 5 pm CT.

Collegians Angelos Mantzouranis and Kostas Zaltos of Minnesota are the top two returning competitors from last year, finishing first and second, respectively. Brock Eager, third last year, returns, too.

Rounding out the field are Canadian Olympian and reigning NCAA hammer champion Rowan Hamilton and Americans Tanner Berg, the 2022 NCAA Division II champion, Justin Stafford and Israel Oloyede.

Anderson turns her focus to making another U.S. team for the 2025 World Outdoor Championships after failing to make the U.S. Olympic Team last summer after not recording a mark at the Olympic Trials.

The 2022 World Champion began her season with a win at the Virginia Challenge, throwing 73.93m (242-6). Anderson comes back to Drake two years after claiming victory at the 2023 meet.

Rachel Richeson aims to defend her Drake title, winning last year’s competition with a mark of 69.26m (227-2). Richeson opened her season with a world-leading 78.80m (258-6) throw at the Oklahoma Throws Series World Invitational in Ramona.

American’s Annette Echikunwoke, Paris silver medalist, and Erin Reese, another Paris Olympian, two-time Olympian Stamatia Scarvelis from Greece and Anna Purchase, 2024 Great Britain champion, are other noteworthy competitors in the field.

Talent All Over Javelin Competitions

Olympians Curtis Thompson and Rhema Otabor both began their outdoor seasons with respectable marks in the javelin, hoping to continue that success in Iowa.

Thompson opened the year with a world-leading throw of 87.76m (287-11) at the Texas Relays last month, the furthest throw by an American in 18 years.

While Thompson headlines the men’s side, the field itself includes a handful of others with credentials just as good as his.

Reigning champion Arthur Petersen of Nebraska is back to reclaim his title. His collegiate teammates Keyshawn Strachan, a two-time Bahamas national champion, and Dash Sirmon will take on a handful of the NCAA's best in Baylor’s Chinecherem Nnamdi, a Nigerian Olympian and Nigerian national champion, and Iowa’s Mike Stein.

Icelandic national champion Sindri Gundmundson and reigning NCAA champion Marc Minichello are among other top professionals.

Otabor, the collegiate record holder representing Nebraska, begun her post-collegiate stint with a win at the Oklahoma Throws Series World Invitational in Ramona, throwing 60.03m (196-11) for her best opener ever.

American’s Madison Wiltrout and Ariana Ince and two-time Puerto Rican champion Rivera Hassemar join the women’s field as other notable pros.

2023 U.S. champion Maddie Harris, now in her senior season at Nebraska, is the top collegian entered. Her current teammate Eniko Sara, Mississippi State’s Sarah Blake, Missouri’s Erin Zimmerman and Iowa’s Lizzy Korczak are other collegiates competing, too.

Pole Vaulters KC Lightfoot, Emily Grove Going For Repeat

American pole vaulters KC Lightfoot and Emily Grove both aspire to be on the world team come September in Tokyo, especially after tough finishes at the U.S. Olympic Trials last summer.

Lightfoot begins his outdoor campaign right where he started it last year, eyeing a title repeat on the men’s side when he cleared 5.84m (19-2). The American record holder, who hasn’t made a global team since the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, hopes another Drake win could spark a bounce back season after failing to advance out of the last year’s qualifying round at the Olympic Trials.

Grove, on the other hand, has the most recent global championship appearance, having competed in Nanjing this past indoor season in her first senior global meet, finishing ninth overall.

At 31 years old, Grove is at the peak of her career, clearing a personal best 4.63m (15-2.25) at the Prefontaine Classic last spring. This year could be her best shot to make an outdoor global team.

Grove is also going for a repeat title on the women’s side, having won last year’s competition at 4.37m (14-4).