DES MOINES, Iowa - A split University of Hawai`i women's track team posted a banner day with a new school record and another NCAA qualifying standard during the Rainbow Wahine's first day of competition in the 95th running of the Drake Relays ran at Drake Stadium.

The Distance Medley Relay (DMR) quartet of Kelly Young (1200m), Carolyn Berger (400m), Ashley Monfort (800m), and Dana Buchanan (1600m) set the new UH record in the event. The foursome finished in fifth place overall posting a time of 11 minutes and 39.26 seconds. It surpassed the old school mark by 30 seconds. Buchanan ran the last leg of the relay and posted a time of four minutes and 51 seconds in the 1600m.

Individually, Young accomplished her second NCAA qualifying mark of the spring in the 400m Hurdles. She placed 8th in the 400m Hurdles (1:00.18), ranking her second on the UH all-time list, missing the UH mark by less than one second. She already qualified for the NCAA Regional earlier in the spring in the 800m run.

"I ran the DMR earlier in the day and had a lot of time to recover," Young said. "I went out as fast as I ever had and just maintained it throughout."

Tasha Monroe's time of 11.99 seconds in the 100m dash preliminaries ranks her sixth on the UH all-time list and is the first sub-12 second dash since 1985.

Robin McRobbie timed in an 11:24.96 run in the 3000m Steeplechase to come away in 16th place overall.

Hawai`i traveled 3,940 miles to make its first-ever appearance at the prestigous meet. The Rainbow Wahine women's track team sent six athletes to compete in the sprint relays.

Colleges and universities represent 34 states, including California (Long Beach State), Florida (South Florida), South Carolina (Furman), New York (Cornell), Hawai`i (UH), and Washington (Washington). Officials say 8,512 athletes from colleges and high schools, representing 794 teams, are participating Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

In the women's university division, 727 athletes from 63 universities are competing, while the women's college division has 537 athletes from 66 schools. The Iowa State women brought the largest delegation of athletes with a total of 42.

The final day of competition is Saturday, April 24. UH is slated to participate in the 4x4 and 4x8 relays, 1500m run, and long jump.