 A group of Drake alumni gather in front of their sorority, Alpha Phi. |
100th Drake Relays brings myriad events, alumni back home
Nearly 2,000 alumni and friends of Drake gathered at the All Blue All Greek Reunion during Relays weekend. Experience the reunion in an audio slideshow online.
“The reunion was a great collaboration with our alumni and the University,” said Blake Campbell, director of Alumni and Parent Programs.
“With more than 1,600 Greek alumni coming back for the tent party, I think it demonstrates the clear passion and commitment this group has for Drake. They are incredibly loyal and have a tremendous opportunity to make an impact on our current students and faculty.”
“I hope we as an institution showed them how valued their contributions are to us,” Campbell added. “We look forward to doing another Greek Reunion very soon with even more attendees and an even bigger tent!”
 Porterhouse sits on his throne lapping up the attention. |
Persistent pooch snags Beautiful Bulldog crown
Porterhouse, a four-time Beautiful Bulldog Contest participant, won the competition and was crowned the official mascot of the 100th running of the Drake Relays.
View a video of Porterhouse’s crowning moment online.
Owned by Drake law student Kevin Bell and his wife, Erin, of Des Moines, 4-year-old Porterhouse competed in the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 contests. He was among 49 other wrinkly beauties in the 30th annual contest at Nollen Plaza in downtown Des Moines on April 20.
See the contest finalists in an online video and view footage of the contestants online.
A photo gallery also is available on the drake Web site.
Read the entire story on the Drake Web site.
Athletes of the Century honored at blue-carpet event
Twenty Athletes of the Century were saluted by thousands of fans as they entered the Drake Knapp Center for a special blue carpet event on April 23. View an audio slideshow featuring the athletes and the event online.
 Michael Johnson and Gwen Torrence make a grand entrance on the blue carpet. |
The public gala featured the top two overall Athletes of the Century Michael Johnson and Gwen Torrence. Read more about the celebration online.
The next day commemorative plaques for each outstanding athlete were unveiled in Drake Plaza outside the stadium.
Relays athletes set records, boast outstanding performances
Twelve records were set and one tied during the four-day meet, including four on Saturday, April 25, when the streak of consecutive sellout crowds (14,500) reached 44 straight years.
Among the top performers, are University of Michigan senior Tiffany Ofili, a three-time NCAA champion, and Ryan Wilson. They were named the outstanding men’s and women’s performers, respectively, of the 2009 Drake Relays.
In addition, Omet Kak, a senior at North High School in Des Moines, and Whitney Westrum, a senior at Waukee High School, were named the outstanding high school boys’ and girls’ performers, respectively. Read the entire article online.
Also noted for impressive victories were: Jeremy Wariner, Ryan Wilson, Dan Taylor and Liz Wanless. Read the entire story about these athletes online.
To read about more Relays results, consider these links:
 Mark Hollis |