2008 DRAKE RELAYS RELEASE #16

DES MOINES, IOWA — April Steiner, who has vaulted a 2008 world best 15 feet 2.25 inches, heads the list of athletes scheduled to compete in the women’s pole vault during the Saturday, April 26 session of the 99th annual Drake Relays.

Steiner, who captured a silver medal in the 2007 Pan American Games, set her world leading mark last Saturday to win the Jacobs Invitational in Norman, Okla.

The field also includes 2004 Olympian Jillian Schwartz; Andree’ Pickens, who was ranked No. 10 in the U.S. last year; and former NCAA champion Kate Conwell.

Steiner ranked No. 4 in the U.S. last year, placed fifth at the 2008 U.S. Indoor Championships and the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Steiner became the first woman in the Southeastern Conference to clear 13 feet indoors in 2001, while competing for Arkansas.

Schwartz, who won the Drake Relays invitational pole vault in 2002 and 2005, is a three-time runner-up in the U.S. Outdoor Championships (2002, 2004, 2006).

She also was second at the recent U.S. Indoor Championships and competed in the 2008 World Indoor Championships.

After placing second at the 2004 U.S. Indoor Championships, she had a career best of 15-1 at the 2004 World Indoor Championships to place fourth while becoming the fifth American ever to clear 15 feet. Schwartz was third at the 2007 Drake Relays.

Pickens, who was second at the 2007 Drake Relays, already has won four meets this year: Saluki Invitational, Indiana Relays, Arkansas State Classic and Alabama Relays.

She owns a pers Pickens was sixth at the 2007 U.S. Indoor Championships and ninth at the 2007 U.S. Outdoor Championships.

Conwell owns a personal best of 14-3.5 set in 2005 while competing for Washington. She won the 2005 NCAA outdoor pole vault title.

Categories: Pre Meet Remarks