Wallce Spearmon Photo Courtesy of AP

By Melanie Fielder
With the Olympics on the horizon, the Drake Relays promise of fast paced action almost surpassed expectations.
Competitors and fans alike witnessed a hint of what’s to come in this summer’s Olympics during the 103rd running of the Drake Relays.
One of the most notable performances would be the crumbling of Michael Johnson’s 15 year record in the 200-meter dash.
Wallace Spearmon stole the crown by only 3-hundredths of a second, with a time of 20.02. Spearmon told the media he’s idolized Michael Johnson and feels honored to be mentioned in the same sentence.
Another notable performance came from Ryan Wilson. He’s now a 3-time Relays Champion in the 110 hurdles, breaking the record he set in 2009. He clocked in at 13.20, that is the second fastest time in the world this year.
Wilson says he’s really looking forward to the upcoming Olympic trials, but first he will race throughout Europe. With this being an Olympic year, he said has to be selective about his races.
Olympic hopeful Boaz Lalang of Kenya cruised to the title in the men’s Special Mile Run. In the three Relay’s he has competed in he’s been able to wave a white flag all three times.
Lalang too, plans to head to Europe to race. Lalang has opened up his last two competitive racing seasons by competing at Drake. He won both times and said following those wins he continued onto very successful seasons.
He hopes to see the same pattern this year.
The U.S. Olympic Trials begin in late June and the 2012 Olympic games begin July 27th.