Ayyildiz Adds Another Mile Record With 4:25.50, Barnett Elevates To No. 2 With 4:26.40; Iowa State Men, Iowa Women Win Relays Cups

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

Lily Dozier photo

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DES MOINES, Iowa – Silan Ayyildiz took the collegiate women’s indoor mile to greater heights when she ran an astonishing 4 minutes, 23.46 seconds at the BU track this past indoor season.

The outdoor record now belongs to her, too.

The Oregon star took advantage of both perfect conditions and a fast women’s professional field on Saturday at the 115th Drake Relays, shattering the collegiate outdoor record by over four seconds in 4:25.50 to finish fourth overall on the final day of the four-day meet.

Ayyildiz finished two seconds shy of a Drake Relays title to Krissy Gear, who broke a 50-year-old meet record in 4:23.69. Shelby Houlihan, world indoor silver medalist, was second in 4:23.84, and Karissa Schweizer finished third in 4:25.50.

“It’s been incredible,” Ayyildiz said. “I really improved myself a lot, especially mentally. I’ve been running every race almost a PR and I couldn’t be much prouder of myself.”

Unlike Boston, where Ayyildiz was the lone representative for the Ducks in a pro field when she broke the collegiate record, her teammate Mia Barnett was by her side on the Blue Oval, also etching her name into the history books with the second-fastest collegiate performance.

The La Crescenta, Calif., native clocked 4:26.40 to finish sixth overall, putting both Ducks under the previous collegiate record of 4:29.04 by Angela Chalmers of Northern Arizona in 1987. (Collegians don't often run miles during the season outdoors).

“I feel like in the past couple of races, I’ve finished feeling like I had more,” Barnett said. “When Shelby and some of the other girls passed me, I’m like, ‘okay, I have more in the tank; I don’t want to let them get away,’. Maybe I made it too hard too early and blew up a little the last 100, but I’m proud of myself left feeling like I gave it my all.”

Despite the negatives often shared about the transfer portal, both Ayyildiz and Barnett have benefited from it since arriving in Eugene.

Ayyildiz, previously at South Carolina, has gone from an all-conference performer in the Southeastern Conference, to a collegiate record holder in three events, a two-time conference championship member, an NCAA champion, and an All-American in the span of 17 months.

“I love my teammates, I love my coaches,” Ayyildiz said. “I’m so grateful to be in Eugene.”

With the addition of Leann Warren, the previous school record holder from 1981, Oregon now owns three of the top four outdoor mile performances in collegiate history.

“Since being at Oregon, I think we expect excellence,” Barnett said. “I think coming into any racing environment you have to give your all that day because it’s such a culture of excellence.”

Iowa State Men, Iowa Women Win Drake Relays Cup

This year's Drake Relays Cups will not travel far after being won by two rival schools.

The Iowa State men take the Drake Relays Cup back to Ames for the first time since 2021, and the Iowa women won the program’s second Drake Relays Cup and first since 2019.

The Cyclones scored 35 points between five relay events scored, holding off Iowa by nine points. DePaul took third with 21 points, South Dakota State scored 15 points in fourth and Northern Iowa rounded out the top five with 14 points.

Iowa State won one relay in the men’s sprint medley, running 3:17.23 to beat DePaul by a narrow margin. Iowa State also finished second in the 4x800 and distance medley relays.

The Hawkeye women tallied 36 points, pulling away from Iowa State by three points. Iowa won both the 4x400 (3:31.13) and sprint medley relays (3:44.12).

Ohio State took third with 21 points, Kentucky scored 19 points in fourth and DePaul finished with 17 points in fifth.

Iowa earned an individual win from Holly Duax, who anchored the sprint medley relay, in the women's university/college 100 final, running 11.98.