DES MOINES – Eric Parker can finally relax.

As the ISU men’s shuttle hurdle relay team took the track at the Drake Relays, Parker, a sophomore from Kensett, said he was feeling the pressure to repeat as champions in the event.

“Before the start of the race, I felt that target on our back real heavy,” Parker said. “Being able to come out and win it again with some different competition, it’s definitely enjoyable.”

The team of Parker, Sterling Frison, Scott Lynn and Kellen Burl ran a time of 57.92 seconds to come out of the race as back-to-back Drake Relays champions. Winning at Drake is something special, but for an ISU team to be able to do it makes it all the better, Frison said.

“It’s good for the program, especially here at Drake,” Frison said. “These are our home fans, and just to represent the state of Iowa and the Big 12.”

The lone difference on the team from last year was freshman Scott Lynn replacing R.J. Sumrall.

Iowa State’s biggest competition at the 2006 relays was Indiana State, and although the Cyclones took first in preliminaries with a time of 58.81, Indiana State’s second place finish had them feeling the heat heading into the finals.

“We knew Indiana State was in the race. They were on our backs last year,” Frison said. “There was a lot of pressure to win.”

Iowa State was unable to grab the lead at the beginning, but after Frison and Lynn kept the Cyclones close on the first two legs, Parker was able to grab the lead on the third leg – a lead Burl would hold on to.

Although their time was a little slower than last year’s winning time of 57.48, the team had to battle Parker’s sore hamstring for most of the week, which didn’t allow them to train until Saturday morning’s prelims.

Parker said he was still sore going into the race, but he wouldn’t let a minor injury stop him.

“It didn’t feel the greatest, but it didn’t matter. I was going to run fast no matter what,” Parker said.

The team also had problems with the hurdles, as a number of runners clipped the hurdles during the race. Despite the problem, Parker said the team responded well.

“We ran fast considering all the hurdles that we hit,” he said. “That was one of the top four or five times ever at Iowa State, and we’ve had a good tradition in the shuttle hurdle, so all things considered it was a really good time.”

Since the shuttle hurdle is not an event at the Big 12 Championships or NCAA Regionals, the runners will now focus on their own individual events. Nonetheless, Parker said it holds a special place at the Relays.

“It’s just a different feeling running it at Drake, it’s one of the best races,” Parker said. “I wish it would be an NCAA meet. Maybe it can get a little push here around the country.”