Two runners with Olympic hopes will compete the Drake Relays later this month. Wallace Spearmon is the U.S. indoor record holder in the 200 meters and is hoping to lower the Drake record.

Spearmon says his is going to tailor his race schedule to give him the best chance to qualify for the Olympics. “I’ll race three weekends in a row and then I’m going to shut it back down for awhile,” Spearmon says. He says Drake will be the first of those three weekends.

Spearmon finished third in the 200 at the 2008 Olympics but was disqualified for running out of his lane. Jenny Simpson is the reigning world champion in the 1,500 meters and spent her early years in Iowa. Simpson was born in Webster City and lived in Ames.

She says her very best memories are coming back to Iowa to visit her grandparents in Spencer and Storm Lake who farm. Simpson calls them “really great classic Iowa families.”

Simpson says Drake is the perfect place for her to start and Olympic year as a lot of her family will be at the race and she says she’s been to Drake a number of times.

Simpson was the American record holder in the steeplechase before switching to the 1,500 meters. “I think every single athlete kind of has an idea in their mind of their own progression, where they are and where they’d like to be in the next couple of years. Crossing the finish line, I just couldn’t believe that this was happening to me now,” Simpson says.

The Drake Relays are April 26th through the 28th.

Officials with the Drake Relays are hoping for another attendance record for this month’s event. Single session tickets went on sale last week and associate athletic director Dennis Francois says all-session packages are still available.

Francois says the ticket packages are designed for different fan bases. “We have a lot of high school participation and Thursday and Friday is really heavy on that,” Francois says. They step up the packages for the college events on Saturday.

Francois says there is a special price for Thursday’s distance carnival. “We still have a full day on Thursday…that ticket is just a five dollar ticket,” he explains.

Francois says plenty of tickets remain for all sessions but they expect the Saturday afternoon session to sell out for the 47th consecutive year. “Last year actually we had a record attendance at the relays for the entire session of the relays, Saturday of course was another sell out. We were blessed of course with good weather,” Francois says.

The Drake Relays are April 26th through the 28th.

This months Drake Relays will be the final one for pole vaulter Derek Miles. The 39-year-old three time U.S. champion will make one more attempt to qualify for the Olympics before calling it a career.

Miles says unless he goes out and wins an Olympic medal, then this will be his farewell tour in the sport. Miles was a four-time NCAA champion at South Dakota and says he wants to end his career while he is still competitive at an international level.

“I still have the same expectations of myself that did five or six years ago, and for me, that is the hardest part,” Miles says. He says it’s hard the older you get to run as fast as you need to and jump as high, but says if he felt he couldn’t still compete he wouldn’t be out there.

Miles says he still feels like he has something to prove. “I’m still chasing the height,” Miles says. He says he’d really like to end his career with an Olympic medal, but he will focused on just making the team.

Miles was the U.S. champion in 2011.

The world’s top ranked female pole vaulter will compete in a West Des Moines mall next month as part of the Drake Relays. Jenn Suhr was the 2008 Olympic silver medalist and will be part of the women’s field in the Pole Vault at the Mall in the Jordan Creek Towncenter.

Drake Relays director Brian Brown says she is the American indoor and outdoor record holder and a 10-time U.S. champion. Brown says the presence of a top ranked competitor will add even more excitement to the competition.

Suhr says she is excited to jump in the mall and it has been one of the things on her bucket list. Suhr says she has hear great things about the event from other competitors. “I heard it was electrifying, the crowd is great…and it’s just a pumped up atmosphere,” Suhr says.

The Drake Relays are April 26th through the 28th.