South Dakota junior Kelsey Barrett won the 10,000-meter run under the lights during the Drake Relays distance carnival Thursday night.
Barrett dropped more than three minutes off her personal best when she clocked 34 minutes, 54.45 seconds. Her mark ranks second in the Summit League and in school history to teammate Amber Eichkorn. Barrett’s time is also 42nd in the NCAA West Region this season.
“No one wanted to take it out,” Barrett said about the race. “The pace wasn’t strenuous and was really relaxed. A lot of the girls up front were really playful, taking turns leading, encouraging each other and that was pretty cool. I had never experienced that in a race before, so it was a feel good vibe from the beginning and it felt great.”
Barrett had one of several top-notch distance performances on Thursday.
The women’s 4×1,600-meter relay finished fourth overall with a time of 19:24.12. Sophomore Nicole Schmidt, Eichkorn, freshman Bethany Kozak and junior Katie Wetzstein trumped relays from Big 10 programs Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa. The quartet also dropped 47 seconds off the school record.
Sophomore Mach Dojiok placed third in the unseeded 800 meters after running 1:50.53.
South Dakota continues competition tomorrow at the Drake Relays.
