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Drake Relays Final Day

Sports

April 29th, 2012 by admin

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Wallace Spearmon, Jr. broke the meet record in the 200 meters set by Michael Johnson 15 years ago, highlighting Saturday’s final session of the Drake Relays.
 
     Spearmon crossed in 20.02 seconds, beating the mark Johnson set in 1997 by three-hundredths of a second. 
 
     U.S. pole vault star Jenn Suhr also set a meet mark with a winning effort of 15 feet, 3 inches on her first try, as did high jumper Chaunte Lowe at 6-6.
 
     Those record-breaking performances came despite temperatures in the low 50s and steady wind that likely forced hometown star Lolo Jones to scratch from the 100-meter hurdles. 
 
     Jones said Friday that she was concerned about running in less than ideal conditions. She grew up in Des Moines and won the event from 2005-08.
 
     Native Iowan Jenny Simpson, the reigning world champion in the 1,500, won in 4:12.95.