For many athletes, Drake Relays is the time to shine. This year was no exception, as eight records were broken inside or around the blue track by preps, college and professionals alike.

For members of the Iowa State women’s track and field team, the meet was more than satisfactory. The team broke personal records and showed off the competitiveness of ISU’s program.

The squad showed its power through depth as it covered all bases. The women had crowd-pleasing races, tosses and jumps alike.

Two-time All-American Trina Radske was crowned Drake Relays champion in the long jump.

On Saturday, Radske tied her 21-11/2 foot all-time best leap to win the long jump title. She had gone an equal distance at the Sun Angel Classic just two weeks ago.

Even though she said she knows she is capable of jumping further, she said, “I was happy that I got first; that was my goal for the week.”

At her two other Drake Relays appearances, Radske finished second and third in the leaping competition.

Freshman Barbara Szlendakova, who took third in the heptathalon, also placed fourth in the long jump.

Radske joined Szlendakova, Victoria Gunnarsson and Olu Adetiba in the 4×100, which not only achieved a second place, but knocked off a school record by nearly a half of a second. It was the group’s third time ever working as a relay team.

“[In Friday’s race] we knew we had had some bad exchanges and we knew we could better our time if we bettered our exchanges,” Radske said.

The four women hoped to cross the line better than No. 5, the slot at which they entered the finals. Unexpectedly, the Cyclones placed second.

“We were extremely excited,” she said. “Breaking a record by that much and actually coming second at the Drake Relays — we weren’t expecting that at all.”

ISU’s 3,200-meter relay team put on a nail-biting performance that had the sold-out Saturday crowd dancing in the stands.

Anchor leg Erin Bresnan said, “That was the loudest I heard the crowd all weekend.”

Joanne Roepke, Alienor Gilchrist, Laurie Meythaler and All-American Bresnan combined 800-meter splits for a second-place finish in event behind Michigan.

Roepke footed the first leg, lead most of her portion and handed off in second place to Gilchrist. Gilchrist held the team in gold contention while increasing the spread between her and the next runner. Meythaler snatched the baton, maintaining the Cyclones’ silver place. The Michigan lead had stretched to two seconds by the time Bresnan got the stick, who then used her first 400 to creep up on the Wolverine anchor.

Coming around the first turn to tackle her second lap, the Drake stadium roared for the ISU runner who strided ever-closer to the leader.

Bresnan caught the Michigan competitor at the 600 mark and kept up until the final 100. At that point, the Michigan runner pulled away, escaping a second-place finish by 1.03 seconds.

Bresnan, who is currently the top 800-meter runner in the Big 12, said she couldn’t have asked for anything better from Meythaler and Gilchrist, who recorded personal best times by three or four seconds. Roepke also registered one of her fastest splits after setting a personal record (2:09.4) during the Friday distance medley relay.

“We have been able to put together a team that is that consistent, one where we’re all that close in time,” Bresnan said. “We had strong legs in the middle which allowed us to stay in the race the whole time.”

Other highlights on the weekend included Bresnan’s open 800-meter performance.

She clocked 2:07.81, her best time ever. She came in second to Lewis’ Beth Bayser who clocked 2:05.92. Bresnan said she went out with the leaders and hung in until the last 100 when Bayser pulled away.

“I was really happy with my time because it was a P.R. and I had kind of been in a slump in the outdoors. I think this race pulled me out of that,” she said. “I hope to improve from here.”

“It was really neat to be competitive with the fast people,” Bresnan added.

On the field, All-American Kris Curnyn slid into the fifth slot in the hammer throw and seventh in the shot put. Big 12 indoor champion Lisa Griebel took third in the shot put.

In the high jump, Leah Elbert and Kelly Cizek bested their season heights by two inches, with Elbert sharing fourth place and Cizek sharing 11th.

Cizek, an Omaha native who has attended the Relays as a spectator, said she was glad to have an opportunity to participate in the annual event.

“It was fun. I just love the Drake Relays. The atmosphere was just incredible, there’s so much excitement,” she said.

Cizek said she and Cyclone teammate Elbert are friends near and away from the bar and are able to challenge each other. “I feel like we push each other to go higher,” she said.

On the weekend, both high jumpers soared two inches higher than they have any other time during the outdoor season.

“I felt like I did okay,” Cizek said. “So far I have been struggling outdoors, and this was a good chance to turn it all around — and I felt that I did that.”

As always, the Cyclones are using weekend meets as building blocks to the conference and national competition. And the Drake Relays were a token stepping stone for the team.

“We had a great meet at Drake, and that’s really going to help us at conference,” Cizek said.

Radske said the morale of the team is high and everyone is doing “really, really well.”

“I think we have a very high confidence in ourselves,” she said. “We covered all the events, we’re really deep.”