DES MOINES, Iowa – With just over two weeks until the action starts in Drake Stadium, the Drake Relays presented by Xtream powered by Mediacom announced its lineups for the World Athletics Continental Tour (WACT) women's 3000m steeplechase on Friday, Apr. 25, in addition to post collegiate stars joining the men's 3000m steeplechase on Thursday, Apr. 24.
 
Both fields feature a collection of outstanding athletes who have competed for regional, national, and global standing. The women's race is comprised of a dozen high-level steeplechasers while the men's field currently has six entrants who will add to a group top collegians with their sights set on NCAA postseason placement.
 
"These two fields are a fitting start to our 2025 lineup announcements," Franklin P. Johnson Director of the Drake Relays Blake Boldon said. "Steeplechase is a unique event that not only requires elite endurance and fitness but also involves additional strategy and athleticism. The international significance of our women's race is evident and will certainly be a competitive contest. The men's field has started to take an equally competitive shape with room for more contenders on the Blue Oval."
 
Indian national record holder Parul Chaudary leads the women's field with a personal best of 9:15.31. Chaudary, a 4-time Indian national champion, was a 2024 Olympian in the 5k and steeplechase after winning the 2023 Asian Games and making the 2023. World Championship steeplechase finals. Chaudary will be joined by fellow Indian Ankita Dhyani, another 2024 Olympian in the 5k and a 2023 Asian Games silver medalist. Dhyani owns a steeplechase P.R. of 9:44.05 recorded in March and has also won four Indian national titles.
 
Anita Konieczek of Poland is the third former Olympian in the lineup with a personal best of 9:24.43. She has qualified for the Olympic Games twice in her career with two Polish national championships to her credit. Konieczek returns to Drake Stadium after earning third in the 2024 women's steeplechase.
 
2024 Olympic Trials finalists Logan Jolly and Angelina Ellis will also lace up their spikes in the women's field. Jolly came in fourth in the 2024 Drake Relays women's steeplechase and earned eighth in the same event in 2023. She also earned seventh at the Pan American Games in 2023. Jolly was an All-American steeple runner and earned NCAA gold on the distance medley team while at the University of Arkansas. Ellis was last year's steeplechase runner-up and brings in a personal best of 9:25.25 to Des Moines. She was a Big East Conference champion and All-American at Butler.
 
Other international standouts in the 2025 Drake Relays womens' steeplechase lineup include Grace Featherstonhaugh, Greta Karinauskaite, and Elise Thorner. Featherstonhaugh was seventh in the 2024 Drake Relays steeple and earned bronze in last year's Canadian national championships. The former Pac-12 Conference champ was an All-American at Oregon State. Karinauskaite, a four-time national title winner in her home country of Lithuania, has earned two NCAA top four placements and multiple SEC medals while competing for Cal Baptist and Ole Miss. She was a 2023 Euro U-23 silver medalist. Thorner of Great Britain was the runner-up at the 2024 GBR national championships. She was a steeplechase All-American on two occasions at both the University of Florida and University of New Mexico.
 
Former Big 12 Conference winner and NCAA bronze medalist Janette Schraft adds some local flavor to this year's meet. The 11-time Iowa High School state champion at Glenwood has also earned eight top eight finishes at the Drake Relays in her career. NAIA steeplechase All-American Hannah Eagon, Missouri Valley Conference champion and NCAA qualifier Rachel Anderson, and 3-time NCAA Division II All-American Colette Rampf-Cribbs round out the women's roster.
 
The men's steeplechase field is highlighted by 2023 Pan American Games silver medalist Daniel Michalski. A former 2-time NCAA Division II champion and Division I all-American, Michalski was a U.S. championship finalist and Drake Relays champion in 2022 after taking fourth at the 2021 Olympic trials.
 
Casey Comber will be running just his fourth-ever steeplechase event. Comber competed collegiately at Villanova and earned second place in the Drake Relays 1500m in 2022. He also took second at the 2023 U.S. Road Mile in Des Moines and placed third in the 2023 Pan American Games 1500. Riley Osen, Clayton Duchatschek, and Nick Randazzo, three more Drake Relays alums, will also be in the field. Osen was sixth at last year's Relays and a former NCAA All-American at the University of Portland. Duchatschek ran an 8:45.98 to earn seventh at the 2023 Drake Relays while Randazzo finished fourth in the 2023 Road Mile and sixth in the 2023 5000m run.
 
That fivesome of men's steeplechasers will be joined by a selection of top collegiate runners hoping to punch their ticket to the NCAA and USATF Championships later in the season. Among the early entrants from collegiate programs is Drake University's own Aziz Jdai. Representing Tunisia internationally, Jdai is a 2-time NCAA qualifier and the 2023 Missouri Valley Conference steeplechase champion.
 
The women's steeplechase will be one of the final events during Friday Night at the Drake Relays with a start time just after 8 p.m. on April 25. The men's steeplechase will run as part of the Thursday night Distance Carnival with start time slated for 6:48 p.m.
 
In addition to the 16 events on the WACT, the remaning events at the Drake Relays are considered a Category E competition by the USATF in 2025, and the steeplechase fields are excellent examples of that distinction. World Athletics employs a world ranking system in each event area in which world rank is based on each athlete's average Performance Score during the ranking period. The Performance Score is then obtained by adding the Result Score to the Placing Score:
 
Result Score + Placing Score = Performance Score
 
The Drake Relays' 16 World Athletics Continental Tour events are identified as Category B, since America's Athletic Classic is a Sliver Level event.  This means that in addition to the points earned through the Result Score, athletes receive the following points for their Placing Score:
              1st         100
              2nd         80
              3rd         70
              4th         60
              5th         55
              6th         50
              7th         45
              8th         40
 
Each year USATF has grants up to 16 competitions Category E status, providing athletes important additional opportunities to improve their world rankings. In 2025, USATF has granted the Drake Relays University/College division Category E status for the fifth consecutive year. 
 
The women's steeplechase field of Olympians and other international competitors is a shining example of how important Category B distinction is to the function of the Drake Relays. The Drake Relays have maintained a seat as one of the most impactful annual track and field meets in the world as so many top athletes travel to Des Moines.
 
"Beyond our World Athletics Continental Tour events, the Category E designation from USATF recognizes the quality of competition that we host each year in our University Division, and it provides valuable world ranking points to the collegians that compete at the Drake Relays each year." Boldon said. "In addition to our first-class facilities, top notch officiating and engaged fan base, this distinction makes our event even more attractive, especially in our Thursday night Distance Carnival and field events throughout the weekend."
 
2025 Drake Relays tickets are available here.