Iowa State's Kiki Connell finally ‘earns’ a Drake Relays flag

DES MOINES — Iowa State distance runner Kiki Connell owns two Drake Relays flags.

But on Thursday, she finally earned one herself.

“This is the first — actually, OK, this is the second,” said Connell, who won the open 3,000-meter steeplechase event at Drake Stadium.

Let her explain …

“Peter Smith ran for Iowa State, All-American in the 1,500 last year, and I told him I had never had a Drake flag before,” said Connell, who clocked in at 10.16.83 to finish ahead of Kendall Martin of Oregon, who took second, and Cyclone teammate Sheridan Wheeler, who placed third. “And he is the humblest, most godly men I’ve met and before the (2024) Drake Relays he goes, ‘I’ll win you a flag.’ The next day (one) was sitting in my locker.”

Connell won by nearly four seconds and joined former ISU standout Abby Caldwell as the program’s only winners in the event at the Relays. Connell — who missed the 2024 outdoor season because of injury — hopes to build off Thursday’s flag-waving triumph in next month’s Big 12 Championships and beyond.

“We’ve just been taking it race by race (and) literally barrier by barrier,” she said. “So we’re just gonna have to talk through what conference looks like. This was a big confidence builder of I can race. I remembered how to race. It took a while to get back into it.”

So where will Connell display her “earned” and “gifted” Relays flags in the future?

“I don’t know,” the Charles City native said. “I’m getting married in August to (Division II All-American) Riley Witt, who (ran for) St. Ansgar prep. So we’ll see where all of our memorabilia ends up. I don’t know. Maybe the living room? I don’t know.”

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