DES MOINES, Iowa – The Friday evening session of the Drake Relays was good to the Coyotes, as they claimed two titles on the track.
 
Sara Reifenrath brought home a Drake Relays title in the 400-meters, winning the race by nearly a second, running 53.63 with second place finishing at 54.62. Teammate Caelyn Valandra took eighth in the event with a time of 56.53. Tommy Nikkel ran in the men's 400, finishing in 49.09.
 
The second title of the evening came in the men's 1,500-meters, where Caleb Rivera ran 3:45.62, climbing two spots on the final lap to steal the victory. Teammate Mason Sindelar crossed the line sixth with a time of 3:47.14.
 
In South Dakota's final race of the day, the quartet of Sydney Stodden, Berkeley Engelland, Ellie Thomas, and Calia Chaney ran the second fastest 4x800 time in school history, clocking 9:02.85.
 
The Coyote women had a strong race in the 4x1,600-meters with the quartet of Madison Brouwer, Geneva Timmerman, Alexus Sindelar, and Mariah Fenske running 20:25.64. That placed eighth in the event and ranks sixth on the USD Top 10 list. The men's 4x1,600 team of Natnael Kifle, Tommy Hensley, Isaac Ochoa, and Andrew Atwood also placed eighth with a time of 17:36.14.
 
Relay success continued with the 4x100-meter women. The Coyote squad of Sophie Amin, Avery Schmeichel, Caelyn Valandra, and Sara Reifenrath ran 46.11 to qualify for the finals. That time ranks seventh on the USD Top 10 list.
 
Schmeichel also ran in the 400-meter finals Friday afternoon, running 58.16 to place second. The Summit League leader in the event, has run 58.10 this season.
 
Three Coyote hurdlers place inside the top eight in Friday's first rounds to qualify for Saturday's finals. On the women's side, Schmeichel ran 13.63 in the 100-meter hurdles to advance with the seventh best time. On the men's side, Jaden Damiano ran a personal best 13.96 and Mikael Grace 14.09 seconds to both advance. Damiano ran the sixth best time with Grace running the eighth best time.
 
In other first round competition, Jaden Guthmiller ran 10.47 to win his heat of the 100-meters, qualifying for Saturday's finals.
 
South Dakota had a strong showing in the women's pole vault championship section, as all five athletes who recorded a height were Coyotes or former Coyotes. Anna Willis and Marleen Mülla took second and third in the event with clearances of 14-0 ¾ (4.29m). Cassidy Mooneyhan and Gen Hirata placed fourth and fifth at 13-7. The Drake Relays champion was Emily Grove, the South Dakota record holder and Coyote alum, who cleared 14-6 ¾ (4.44m).
 
In championship section triple jump action, Carsen Staehr took third with a season's best 49-1 ¾ (14.98m). During the evening session, Lydia Knapp placed fourth in the women's discus championship section, recording a best throw of 170-10 (52.09m). Wrapping up competition in the field events for the day was the men's high jumper, Landon Olson and Joe Lynch. Both athletes cleared 6-8 ¾ (2.05m), with Olson taking sixth and Lynch taking ninth.
 
Eliza Aitken recorded a fifth place finish in the women's pole vault with a clearance of 12-6 ¼ (3.82m). Matayah Yellow Mule made the finals in the triple jump and the long jump, recording a result of 38-3 ½ (11.67m) to place eighth in the triple and 18-5 (5.61m) to place 10^th in the long. Bennett Schwenn took 10^th in the men's triple jump, recording a mark of 46-6 ¼ (14.18m). Tristan Gray placed 12^th in the men's shot put with a throw of 53-3 (16.23).
 
Action concludes from Des Moines, Iowa Saturday.