DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake Relays presented by Xtream powered by Mediacom will host some of the world's most accomplished para track and field athletes in this year's lineup. For the first time in Drake Relays history, America's Athletic Classic will feature paralympic seated throwing events.

"The opportunity to compete at Drake Relays is serving as a crucial stepping stone for many of our top athletes as they train toward this May's world championships in Kobe, Japan," Director of U.S. Paralympics Track & Field Sherrice Fox said. "In addition to six Paralympic world record holders, we also will be showcasing 13 athletes who have represented their country at a Paralympic Games and hope to do so again this summer in Paris. We are so grateful for the support from Blake Boldon and the Drake Relays staff as we continue to build awareness of Para sport and showcase our top talent on the road to Paris."
 
The debut year of the seated throws is headlined by a world record holder and native Iowan. Justin Phongsavanh, the F54 javelin first-place finisher at the 2024 U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships in March, will return to his home state of Iowa for the Relays. The four-sport star at Ankeny Centennial High School holds the world record in the event, achieving a mark of 33.29m/109'-2", which he set in 2019. Phongsavanh also won a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo.
 
Beth Grauer will compete in the seated shot put. Already this year, Grauer has achieved silver in the Parapan American Games and won the U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships. While Grauer now represents the United States as an athlete, she also served in the Marines Corps for 15 years in the military police field.

"For a century, the Drake Relays has expanded participation and inclusion in the sport of track and field," Franklin P. Johnson Director of the Drake Relays Blake Boldon said. "Since 2015, Drake Relays fans have applauded world-class performances from paralympic athletes and 2024 will be our best year yet. We have a great relationship with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and always look forward to showcasing paralympic events at the Drake Relays. The level of paralympic competition at the Drake Relays consistently improves year after year."
 
The ambulatory throws, which will be contested alongside many of the best in the NCAA ranks, will include three Drake Relays veterans. Josh Cinnamo, who holds the world record in the F46 shot put, headlines the event at the Relays this April. Originally from San Diego, Cinnamo graduated from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where he was a multisport athlete competing in both football and track and field. Cinnamo has already earned a first-place finish this year at the U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships in March. He also took home the gold at the Parapan American Games in 2023.
 
Another Iowan returning to the Drake Relays in 2024 is Jessica Heims. Heims is a former Cedar Rapids Prairie and Northern Iowa standout who competed in the Relays during her time as a Panther. Heims set the former world record for the F64 discus at the 2022 Drake Relays with a heave of 37.27m/122'-3". Heims will also be coming off a first-place finish at the U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships in California earlier this month.
 
Four-time world champion Jeremy Campbell will compete in the discus throw in his return to the Drake Relays. Campbell won gold medals in the event at both the London (2012) and Beijing (2008) Paralympic Games.
 
One of America's rising young stars in para wheelchair racing, Evan Correll returns home to defend his first-place finish at the first-ever para-college championship in the wheelchair 100-meter at the 2023 Drake Relays. The accomplished Waukee High School graduate was an eight-time state champion and is now at the University of Illinois. Correll recently finished second in the NYC Half Marathon earlier in March, rising from his third-place finish in the event in 2023. Correll currently holds the state's all-time best times in the wheelchair 100, 200, 400, and 800-meter.
 
World record holder Michael (Mikey) Brannigan will also return to Des Moines this year. Brannigan holds the world record in both the TR20 1500-meter and TR20 5000-meter, and was the first paralympic ambulatory athlete to break four minutes in the mile when he finished with a time of 3:57.58. At the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brannigan earned his first Olympic gold medal after besting the field in the 1500-meter. In 2017, Mikey was named Team USA's Male Paralympic Athlete of the Year.
 
Iowa's Erin Kerkhoff, a Missouri Valley Conference medalist and Iowa High School state champion, is set to race in the 100-meter dash. At the Paralympic World Championships last year, Kerkhoff brought home the bronze in the 200-meter, while also qualifying in both the 100 and 400-meter. Kerkhoff also earned an eighth-place finish in the 400-meter at the Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games in 2020.
 
Two-time Paralympic medalist Blake Leeper is set to race in both the 100 and 200-meter dash. Leeper, a two-time world record holder, claimed silver (400-meter) and bronze (200-meter) medals at the 2012 London Olympics. Most recently in 2023, Leeper won silver in the 400 at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships in Paris.
 
Joining Leeper as a headline-name in the 100 and 200-meter is Tanner Wright. Wright will bring with him to Des Moines his experience from the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, where he placed fourth in the 400-meter and seventh in the 100-meter. The three-time world championship qualifier finished second in the 400-meter at the world championships in 2023.
 
Men's 100m
Desmond Jackson T63
Tanner Wright T46
Nick Mayhugh T38
Jaydin Blackwell T38
Blake Leeper T62
Isaac Jean Paul T13
Austin Spalla T35
Erin Kerkhoff T13
 
Men's 200m
Tanner Wright T46
Blake Leeper T62
Jaydin Blackwell 38
Nick Mayhugh T38
 
Mixed WC 100m
Yen Hoang T53
Eva Houston T34
Hannah Dederick T54
Evan Correll T54
Phillip Croft T53
Jason Robinson T54
Isaiah Rigo T52
 
Mixed WC 800m
Yen Hoang T53
Eva Houston T34
Hannah Dederick T54
Evan Correll T54
Phillip Croft T53
Jason Robinson T54
Isaiah Rigo T52
 
Road Mile & 1500m Collegiate
Kaitlin Bounds T20
 
Road Mile & 1500m or 5k
Michael Brannigan T20
 
Seated Shot Put
Beth Grauer F34
 
Seated Javelin
Justin Phongsavanh F54
 
Ambulatory Shot Put
Josh Cinnamo F46
 
Ambulatory Discus
Jessica Heims F64
Jeremy Campbell F64