The Aurora University men's and women's track teams sent down some of their best athletes to compete in the 2017 Drake Relays hosted by Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. The Drake Relays are a massive multiple day invitational that hosts some of the best competition in the country and even has races where professional runners compete. Athletes are only allowed to compete in the meet contingent upon their marks, which makes every event full of only top notch competitors.

The Spartans were certainly up to the task evidenced by performances like that of the men's distance medley relay. The men's DMR consisted of freshmen Carl Way at the 1200m leg, senior Jaylen Robinson at the 400m, senior Miki Marin at the 800m, and junior Anthony Barrios closing with the mile leg. The Spartan men had a 12^th place finish with a school record time of 10:24. The men's 4 by 100m relay consisting of senior Johnny Walker, junior Bobby Cooks, senior Jaylen Robinson, and junior Terry Moore finished in 21^st place with a time of 43.59s. Junior Bobby Cooks also competed in the 110m hurdles and finished in 8^th in prelims with a time of 14.31s. Junior Ryan Njegovan had an incredible day by placing 2^nd in the discus throw with a ridiculous mark of 57.55m besting many Division 1 athletes.

The Spartan women also had a fine day with sophomore Jackie Schane placing 17^th in the steeplechase with a time of 11:04. The women's 4 by 100m relay made it to finals placing 7^th overall with a time of 47.60s and consisted of senior Taylor Jefford, senior Crystal Abernathy, senior Lisa Rodriguez, and junior Deterrica Simpkins. Crystal, Deterrica, and Lisa also competed in the 4 by 200m relay and were joined by sophomore Breonna Guillory and placed 5^th with a time of 1:41.50s.

Next action for the Spartan men's and women's track and field team comes on Friday, May 5 and Saturday, May 6, 2017 when they compete in the 2017 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Championship Meet.