Keter wins second Drake Relays title

Once the baton was in Benard Keter's hand, Wayland Baptist was set to seize the moment.

The sophomore from Kenya won his second Drake Relays title in less than 16 hours by anchoring the Jackrabbits to a victory in Friday morning's distance medley.

"All he had to do was finish strong," said De'Vion Simpson, who ran the third leg.

Keter, the winner of Thursday night's university/college 10,000 meters, passed Iowa Central's Andrew Ronoh on the final lap and helped Wayland Baptist win in 10:03.3.

"The strategy was to sit behind those guys," Keter said, "then take the lead whenever I feel good."

It was still a notable performance for Iowa Central. Only in recent years have junior colleges been invited to compete in the state's premier track meet.

The Tritons placed second in 10:07.43.

"Our time was a lot better than what we had been running all indoor season," said Josh Prohaska, who ran the third leg. "It was a good statement for people out there, that little community colleges can run pretty good times."

The success of Wayland Baptist extended to the women's 4x200, which the Rackrabbits won in 1:36.20.

"It means a lot to us," anchor runner Alexis Browner said. "People think because we're NAIA we're not up there with the bigger divisions, but we just showed them we can also perform."

Browner was part of a Wayland Baptist quartet that won last year's 4x200 in 1:36.03.

Friday, the Jackrabbits rallied midway through the race and gave Browner a chance to secure the win.

"We wanted to keep our title," Browner said. "It started to rain really hard, but we pushed."

The discus ring was filled with water when Central Missouri's Heavin Warner stepped in.

No big deal.

She splashed her way to a personal-best toss of 178 feet, 2 inches on her first attempt — good enough to win the event.

"My warmups weren't very good," Warner said. "Just came into the ring like, 'OK, I've got to do this.' ''

Warner was making her Relays debut.

The Lincoln University men brought a swagger to the 4x200 relay, winning in 1:25.57.

"I think we had it under control from the start," anchor runner Roger Blake said. "We all had a game plan and what we wanted to do.

"And that was to be victorious."