Drake Relays Director lends expertise to Olympic trials

Drake Relays Director Mark Kostek heads to Sacramento this week where he will serve as a technical official at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Kostek will help supervise the setup of the competition site to make sure it meets all U.S. and International regulations. He’ll meet with the referees, officials, athletes and committee chairs to ensure that the conduct of the meet is run in “a fair and equitable” way. Kostek says he will also oversee a number of the events. He’ll be responsible for being the rules expert in each particular area and will advise the officials how to proceed or correct the problems. Kostek says meet officials try to make sure every detail is covered because the trials are so important to the athletes. He says they get one chance and that’s it so he says it’s the toughest process any athlete has to go through to advance. He says it’s the hardest team in the world to make. Kostek has been the relays director since September of 2000. The Olympic Trials begin on Friday.