Concordia-St. Paul’s Arika Robinson won the women’s heptathlon on the second day of competition here at the 2022 Drake Relays on Thursday (28).
READ MORE: Day 2: Drake Relays order of events; how to watch live?
Robinson, who entered day two with a narrow lead over her closest challenger build on her bedtime lead in the second day events to finish in first place with 5029 points.
“I grew up I Iowa and lived in Ankeny for 10 years and I watched the Drake Relays growing up,” Robinson said. “To be able to compete and to win is such an incredible experience.”
The talented multi-athlete entered the day with an overnight score of 3165 after the first four events on Wednesday and she outclassed her rivals in the final three events to make an impressive start to her heptathlon career.
Robinson, the NCAA DII Indoor Championships high jump champion last month, opened the day with a victory in the long jump event after leaping 5.59m for 726 points and then added another pair of solid placings in the javelin throw and the 800m to secure the title by 270pts.
She added: “Not a lot of personal records, but near them so that is always a good thing.”
Emily Swanson of Sioux Falls who trailed by 185 points after the first day, wasn’t able to make up the gap on the second day and had to settle for second place with a tallied score of 4759.
Swanson set a personal best on her way to taking second place, improving on her previous mark from 4571pts, in what was her third heptathlon competition in April alone.
Samantha Sunnarborg of Minnesota State also finished the competition with a new personal best of 4486pts to secure third place, while Kylee Sallee of Augustana (S.D.) finished fourth with 4417pts and Lydia Berns-Schweingruber of Northern Iowa who was third overnight, faded to fifth overall on the final day.
2022 Drake Relays heptathlon final points standings
1 Arika Robinson Concordia-St. Paul………. 5029pts
2 Emily Swanson Sioux Falls………. 4759
3 Samantha Sunnarborg Minnesota State………. 4486
4 Kylee Sallee Augustana (S.D.)………. 4417
5 Lydia Berns-Schweingruber Northern Iowa………. 4395
6 Kaye Paschka Augustana (S.D.)………. 4086
7 Esther Miller North Park………. 3829
8 Clare Lycan Unattached………. 3787
9 Kelly Proesch Northern Iowa………. 3785
10 Stephanie Witbrod Bethany Lutheran………. 3411
11 Amanda Lietz Northern Iowa………. 3377
12 Hailey Foxhoven Wartburg………. 3131
DNF Kenli Nettles Illinois
DNF Sydney Durbin Northern Iowa [SO]
DNF Lucy Matthews ADIDAS
