CLINTON, Iowa - Four members of the Ashford University women's track and field program will race among elite collegiate and professional athletes this weekend on the famous blue track at Drake University in Des Moines for the 101st Annual Drake Relays.

The quartet of freshman Sarah Wenzel of Clinton, freshman Nkemdilim Okwumabua of Rockford, Ill., sophomore Laura Minertz of Sterling, Ill., and senior Kim Fabry of Oconto Falls, Wis., collectively earned qualifying times in both the 4x200 and 4x100-meter relay events.

"This is definitely a step in the right direction for the program as a whole," said AU head coach Chris Adams. "For us to become the team we want to be, we need to be able to compete on a stage as big as the Drake Relays."

The four girls have broken the school record in the 4x200-meter relay twice this season and ran to Drake Relay qualifying times in each event at the Lee Calhoun Invitational at Western Illinois University on April 10.

Over the last 100 years, the Drake Relays meet has become one of the largest and most premier track and field meets for top high school, collegiate and professional athletes. The track at Drake Stadium has become the home for the USA Track and Field Championships as well.

Feature professional athletes for 2010 feature Olympic athlete sprinters Wallace Spearmon and Bernard Williams, hurdler Lolo Jones and 400-meter runner Renny Quow, among many others.

"The best part about qualifying though is the opportunity that it provides the athletes with," added Adams. "Of the four girls, only Sarah is from Iowa, so it will be fun to take the others to Drake for the first time because it's such a great experience."