DES MOINES, Iowa—South Dakota alumnus Chris Nilsen captured the invitational pole vault and alumna Lara Boman was victorious in the invitational hammer throw Saturday at the Drake Relays inside Drake Stadium.
 
Nilsen vaulted 18-4 ½ (5.60m) to win the elite competition in his outdoor season opener. As a collegian, Nilsen won the Drake Relays elite competition in 2019. He also finished runner-up in the elite field in 2017 and 2018.
 
Boman launched the hammer 224-8 (68.49m) to take first in the elite field at Drake. The mark was just shy of her personal best of 232-11 (71.00m) set earlier this season at Wayne State.
 
Sophomore Jacob Jenkins took fifth in the triple jump, leaping a wind-aided 50-3 ½ (15.33m) on his final jump. The mark would have been a new personal best by three inches. Jenkins was one of two athletes from the first flight to qualify for finals.
 
The duo of fourth-year junior Jessie Sullivan and fifth-year senior Matt Slagus added a pair of top-10 finishes in the hammer throw. Sullivan placed sixth with a season-best throw of 207-11 (63.37m) on his final toss of the competition. Slagus took 10th with a distance of 198-0 (60.37m).
 
Sullivan added a 12th-place finish in the discus earlier in the day, recording a mark of 162-9 (49.61m).
 
Third-year sophomore Lydia Knapp added a 13th-place finish in the hammer throw. She launched the hammer 190-10 (58.18m).
 
The women's distance medley relay of sophomore Abrielle Jirele, freshman Caelyn Valandra-Prue, fifth-year senior Alli Wroblewski and third-year sophomore Helen Gould took 13th. The quartet posted a time of 11:53.68, a season-best in the event by the Coyotes. The time ranks fourth in USD program history.
 
South Dakota returns home next week for the USD Twilight scheduled for Friday at Lillibridge Track Complex in Vermillion, South Dakota.