MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin track and field team heads to Des Moines, Iowa, for one of the most prestigious meets of the outdoor season. UW is set to send more than 25 student-athletes to compete at the 2017 Drake Relays, which begins Thursday night and finishes up on Saturday at Drake Stadium.

On the women's side, nine student-athletes are checked in to compete individually with four additional relays on tap for the weekend.

Ebony McClendon comes into this meet following a string of outstanding performances. Last weekend at the John McDonnell Invitational, the sophomore was the runner-up in the 100 meters (11.52) and the third-place finisher in the 200 meters (23.59). At the Drake Relays, she will look to win the 100 meters against a field of 31 other athletes.

Thursday night, Shaelyn Sorensen heads to the track for the 5000 meters. In her only competition this outdoor season, Sorensen took 12th in the 1500 meters at the Aztec Invitational. She holds a personal record of 16:21.79 in this event, which came during a ninth-place finish at the Stanford Twilight last April.

Competing in the 10,000 meters also on Thursday night is sophomore Rachel Fleddermann. This will mark her first showing of the outdoor season and her first-ever collegiate 10,000-meter race.

Shifting to middle distance, Brenna Detra aims for gold in the 400-meter hurdles. This event marks one of the marquee races of the afternoon session on Friday. Following her victory at the UC-Riverside Classic in this event, Detra took third at the Jim Click Shootout and was the runner-up at the John McDonnell Invitational last weekend with a season-best time of 57.83.

After placing sixth in the 800 meters at the John McDonnell Invitational with a run of 2:11.93, Emma Reifel attempts to follow up her performance at the Arkansas meet with another go at the Drake Relays. Just missing her personal best by half a second, the senior will go up against 27 other participants in the unseeded 800 meters on Thursday night.

Erin Wagner tries to follow up her victory in the 3000-meter steeplechase last weekend with another at this meet. Finishing in 10:57.04, Wagner delivered a fantastic performance at the John McDonnell Invitational and will look to do the same at the Drake Relays.

With three top-three finishes this season in the high jump, Emma Haugen is slated to compete in her event again at the Iowa meet. The sophomore leaped to a personal record in her previous go-round at the Jim Click Shootout with a mark of 5-10 3/4 (1.80m), which ranks fourth in program history.

Taylor Amann hits the field for the pole vault following a victory at the Jim Click Shootout in early April. With a top height of 13-0 1/4 (3.97m) this season, Amann will aim to improve upon her jumps to near a personal best mark of 13-7 3/4, which she set at the 2016 Big Ten Championships.

Specializing in the triple jump, Chinne Okoronkwo vies to earn her fourth-straight crown to start her outdoor career. Winning all three of her previous competitions, the freshman comes in with a top mark of 41-7 1/4 (12.68m), which puts her fifth on the all-time list for UW.

The relays for the women's team will kick off with the 4x1600 meters on Thursday night. Following the prelims for the 4x100 meter relay on Friday afternoon, both the 1600 meter sprint medley and the distance medley relay will occur on Saturday.

On the men's squad, eight members of the team will participate in individual events in addition to the five different relays that are the staple of the meet.  

Lorenzo Larry takes aim for his fourth crown in the 100 meters in as many competitions during the outdoor season. At the Jim Click Shootout on April 8, Larry ran to a time of 10.34 seconds, nearly breaking his personal best of 10.31 while taking home the title. The prelims for the 100 meters at the Drake Relays commence on Friday afternoon with the finals occurring the following day.

Three Badgers kick off the festivities on Thursday night with the invitational 5000 meters. In a field of 24 participants, Malachy Schrobilgen, Zack Snider and Russell Sandvold will represent Wisconsin. Each of the trio competed at the Stanford Invitational in late March as Schrobilgen led the group with a time of 13:54.60.

Cooper Barth also hits the track on Thursday with a showing in the unseeded 800 meters. This past weekend, Barth nearly set a personal record in the event, placing fifth at the John McDonnell Invitational in 1:53.34.

Sophomore Tyson Miehe will race in the final event on Thursday night during the unseeded 5000 meters. In his lone competition for this event during the outdoor season, Miehe took 13th at the Aztec Invitational in March with a time of 15:11.78.

A pair of Badger pole vaulters will compete this weekend as Rashid Coulibaly and Tim Guthrie will be in action Friday afternoon. Coulibaly won the competition at the Jim Click Shootout and placed third at the Aztec Invitational with a personal best leap of 16 feet, 3 1/4 inches (4.96 meters). Guthrie was the runner-up to Coulibaly at the Arizona meet, earning a height of 16-1 1/4 (4.91m).

In terms of the relays, the men's team will round up a squad in the 4x100 meter, 4x400 meter and 4x1600 meter. UW will also compete in the 1600 meter sprint medley and the distance medley relay, with both of these relays occurring on Saturday. The 4x1600 relay kicks off the fun on Thursday night with the 4x100 and 4x400 meter relays holding prelims on Friday afternoon with the finals concluding on Saturday.