Razorbacks cruise to 4 x 800 victory at Drake Relays

DES MOINES – Arkansas registered its second victory in the 4 x 800m relay during the 113th Drake Relays on Friday evening, topping the field by 14-plus seconds with a time of 8:41.47, as the Razorbacks won the event for the first time since 2005.

The foursome of Analisse Batista, Katie McCune, Ainsley Erzen, and Lainey Quandt built an early lead in 50-degree weather with intermittent rain and continued to pull away from the field. Utah finished second to Arkansas with a time of 8:56.30 while Southern Indiana placed third in 9:06.36.

“All in all, it was a real good, productive meet,” said Arkansas women’s head coach Lance Harter. “The kids ran fast given the cool, wet conditions. The relay was serenaded in their victory.”

An opening leg of 2:12.79 from Batista gave the Razorbacks a two-plus second advantage over Utah, who started with a 2:15.00 carry. McCune went 2:10.51 on the second leg as Utah closed the gap slightly with a 2:09.29. At that stage Arkansas leg 4:23.30 to 4:24.29.

“This is my last year in college, and my first year at Arkansas with Coach Harter, so this was special,” said McCune, who transferred from Drury. “It’s just an unbelievable experience to come here. I never thought I would have a chance to run with these girls and at the Drake Relays. It’s been a really fantastic year.”

Batista added: “Coach Harter inspires us to be better athletes every day, so I’m glad I was part of this relay, and we were able to win another title.”

Erzen, an Iowa native who prospered at Drake Stadium during her high school career in the Drake Relays and Iowa state meet, produced the fastest split of the race with a 2:08.59 third leg. Utah’s third leg fell off the pace with a 2:17.50, creating a nearly 10-second lead for Arkansas (6:31.89 to 6:41.79) heading into the anchor leg.

“To come all together and run a relay here was special, and I’m really grateful for the chance to be back here,” stated Erzen. “I have a lot of memories of running at the Drake Relays with my high school team, so to come back with these amazing girls was so awesome. We push each other to be our best.”

Quandt, who ran the 800m third leg on the Razorbacks NCAA Indoor silver medal distance medley relay, finished the Arkansas victory with a 2:09.85 split as Utah countered with a 2:14.51.

“It was a great feeling to win the relay,” said Quandt. “I owe all the credit to the first three legs since they gave me a 50m lead. I’m super proud of them, and super thankful to have Coach Harter as our coach. It was fun to give him one last victory at the Drake Relays.”

Prior to the relay, a trio of Razorbacks raced in the 1,500m. Making her collegiate debut at the distance, Heidi Nielson bettered her high school best of 4:27.23 with a 4:21.51 performance that placed her second to a 4:18.92 from Bradley’s Tiana LoStracco.

Carmie Prinsloo placed third in the race with a 4:23.23 while Mary Ellen Eudaly finished seventh in 4:25.83, just off the PR of 4:25.52 she set the previous week.

“At one time in the race they were 1-2-3,” Harter noted when the pacer left the race. “Heidi had a solid effort and ran a career best while Carmie raced better this week.”

Arkansas alum Logan Jolly finished eighth in the 3,000m steeplechase at 9:50.08 after leading the field in the early stages and she was in second up to the halfway point of the race.

A future Razorback, Paityn Noe of Ballard HS in Iowa, produced a pair of strong races at the Drake Relays.

On Thursday, she defended her 3,000m title and bettered the field by just over eight seconds as her winning time of 9:28.89 came within a couple of seconds of the meet record of 9:26.87 set in 2015 by Linn-Mar’s Stephanie Jenks.

Noe’s effort is second-fastest in the history of the race at the Drake Relays, in which the first high school girls 3,000m race was held in 1992. Noe also ranks third all-time in Iowa.

On Friday, Noe led the mile field through the first three laps. On the final lap her split of 1:11.88 was bettered with a 1:11:21 by winner Adrienne Buettner-Cable of Des Moines Roosevelt, who finished third in the 3,000m. The winning time of 4:49.58 just edged out Noe’s 4:49.91.