DES MOINES, Iowa—South Dakota captured three flags, highlighted by junior Jacy Pulse clocking one of the nation's best 400-meter hurdle marks Friday at the 113th Drake Relays inside Drake Stadium.
 
Pulse, a native of Salem, South Dakota, captured the 400-meter hurdles in a school-record clocking of 56.79 seconds. She dropped nearly two seconds off her personal best to surpass U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier Alexa Duling (2012) on South Dakota's all-time charts. Pulse also moves to 12th in the NCAA this spring with the time. Sophomore teammate Averi Schmeichel also had a personal best in the race, clocking 1:00.30 for ninth place. Her time ranks sixth in USD program history.
 
Fourth-year junior Meredith Clark was victorious in the women's shot put competition with a best throw of 49-3 (15.01m).
 
Sophomore Joe Lynch snagged the Drake Relays flag in the men's high jump behind a first-attempt make at a personal best 6-10 ¾ (2.10m). He ties for 10th in USD history and becomes the third Coyote to jump 2.10 meters or higher this outdoor season. Fourth-year junior Ethan Heitman and freshman Landon Olson tied for fourth and sixth, respectively, with both clearing 6-8 ¾ (2.05m).
 
The women's 4x200-meter relay consisting of Pulse, sophomore Anna Robinson, sophomore Caelyn Valandra-Prue and junior Erin Kinney finished runner-up with a final time of 1:35.92. The mark broke South Dakota's program record by two hundredths of a second. Kinney, Pulse and Robinson joined Sara Reifenrath for the previous record of 1:35.94 set last season.
 
A number of South Dakota sprinters also qualified for Saturday's finals.
 
The women's 4x100-meter relay headlined the group, breaking the school record for the third time this spring with a clocking of 44.63 seconds. Sophomore Sammy Neil, Pulse, Robinson and Kinney compiled the mark that bested their own record by .26 of a second. The school record time moves USD to 14th in the NCAA West region and 32nd in the NCAA this season. Finals for the women's 4x100 are set for 3:08 p.m. Saturday.
 
The men's 4x100-meter relay also advanced to Saturday's finals (set for 3:13 p.m.). Fourth-year junior Ardell Inlay, sophomore Ken-Mark Minkovski, freshman Mark Daley and fourth-year junior Dylan Kautz teamed up for a time of 40.17 seconds. The season-best time ranks fifth in USD history.
 
Fourth-year junior Hugo Morvan posted the fastest time in the men's 110-meter hurdle preliminaries with a clocking of 14.10 seconds. Schmeichel also advanced to finals in the women's 100-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 13.80 seconds. That time ties for third in USD history. Kinney won her heat to advance to the finals in the 100 meters with a preliminary time of 11.58 seconds. The finals of the four short sprints will be run consecutively beginning at 1:07 p.m. Saturday.
 
Third-year sophomore Lauren Meyer leaped a personal best 40-0 ½ (12.20m) on her fifth attempt of the women's triple jump competition. She finished third in the field. Meyer remains ranked seventh in USD program history.
 
Amid rainy conditions Friday night in the invitational women's pole vault, junior Jaidyn Garrett finished third with a height of 13-4 ¼ (4.07m).
 
Fourth-year junior Lydia Knapp of Linden, Iowa, took fifth in the invitational discus competition with a throw of 163-11 (49.97m).
 
Fifth-year senior Liberty Justus was fifth in the long jump with a distance of 18-9 ¼ (5.72m). Neil took eighth in 18-4 ½ (5.60m).
 
Sophomore Jayden Green took ninth in the men's triple jump, leaping a best of 46-0 ¾ on his third attempt.
 
A small contingent of Coyotes also competed at the nearby Kip Janvrin Open in Indianola, Iowa. Justus won the 100-meter hurdles in 14.25 seconds to highlight the group. Sophomore Derek Eidsness was runner-up in the long jump, fourth-year junior Bryce Paulsen was second in the javelin and junior Davion Williams finished runner-up in the 400-meter hurdles.
 
South Dakota wraps up at the Drake Relays on Saturday with the first event at 10 a.m.