C-SC’s Mallett finishes eighth in decathlon, Straus places 13th in heptathlon at Drake Relays

DES MOINES, IOWA — Culver-Stockton College juniors Drew Mallett and Delaney Straus each competed at the 115th Drake Relays on Wednesday and Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa.

Mallett set a personal high for points in the decathlon with 6,329, seven points higher than his previous mark achieved at the Central Methodist Invitational this season. The mark was good for eighth place among the 18 athletes who completed all 10 events.

The men’s decathlon winner was Till Steinforth of Nebraska, one of 15 Division I athletes in the field, with 8,265 points. The field also consisted of two NAIA athletes and one Division II athlete. Steinforth placed 15th at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Mallett, who finished eighth at the 2024 Drake Relays, opened his day Wednesday with a time of 11.05 seconds in the 100-meter dash. He followed with a jump of 20 feet, 7 3/4 inches in the long jump and a throw of 37 feet, 1 3/4 inches in the shot put. In the final two events of day one, Mallett hit 6 feet even in the high jump and ran the 400-meter dash in a time of 50.48 seconds.

Mallett began the second day with the 110 hurdles with a time of 15.73. He followed that up with a mark of 92 feet, 9 inches in the discus and a vault of 11 feet, 7 3/4 inches in the pole vault. In his final two events, Mallett hit 154 feet, 4 inches in the javelin before hitting personal best 4:56.05 in the 1500-meter finale.

Mallett is 14th in the NAIA in the decathlon this season. The top 16 athletes in the decathlon are invited to the NAIA Outdoor National Championships in May.

Straus jumped five spots after the first day and finished 13th in the women’s heptathlon among the 18 competitors who finished all seven events. Straus finished with 4,474 total points, the 10th-highest total in the NAIA. The field had 11 Division I athletes, three Division II athletes, two NAIA and one club athlete.

Straus started the competition on a high note by setting a school record in the 100 hurdles with a time of 15.54 seconds. However, she struggled in the next three events, posting a height of 4 feet, 9 inches in the high jump and a mark of 31 feet, 6 inches in the shot put. Strauss finished day one in 18th place after posting a time of 26.99 seconds in the 200-meter dash.

On day two, Straus began day two by leaping 16 feet, 1/4 inch in the long jump and throwing the javelin 108 feet, 4 inches before finishing strong in the 800 with a time of 2:17.40.

Both Mallett and Straus will be joined by several teammates Friday and Saturday to run several relay events at Drake. The rest of their teammates are competing Friday at the Vikings Classic at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa.