Senior Jamie Geissler (Spokane, Wash.) ran to a second-place finish with a personal-best in the 10,000m, while sophomore Jacy Kruzel (Cooper City, Fla.) just missed an NCAA regional qualifying mark in the 5,000m to pace Florida’s distance runners and open up competition at the 98th annual Drake Relays at Drake Stadium on Thursday.

“It was a good start for us at the Drake Relays to have Jamie run a PR and Jacy run a good time,” Florida women’s track and field interim head coach Steve Lemke said. “Both of those athletes have put themselves in position to help us out on the conference level.”

Geissler’s time of 36:14.11 in the 10,000m surpassed her previous-best time by over 72 seconds and ranks as the eighth fastest in the Southeastern Conference this season. The second-place finish was the best of Geissler’s Florida career, and she was just nine seconds away from taking first. Junior Devin Gapstur (Stuart, Fla.) also ran the 10,000m and finished 13th with a mark of 37:41.24. It was the first time in Gapstur’s career that she competed in the event.

Geissler’s time of 36:14.11 in the 10,000m surpassed her previous-best time by over 72 seconds and ranks as the eighth fastest in the SEC this season. The second-place finish was the best of Geissler’s Florida career, and she was just nine seconds away from the winner. Junior Devin Gapstur (Stuart, Fla.) also ran the 10,000m and finished 13th with a mark of 37:41.24. It was the first time in Gapstur’s career that she competed in the event.

In the 5,000m, Kruzel finished in 11th with a mark of 16:53.45 – the eighth-best clocking in the SEC this season. Her time was just 1.45 seconds away from qualifying for the NCAA East Regional Championships and was 2.38 seconds away from a PR. Sophomore Sara Petrick (Apollo Beach, Fla.) also ran the event and took 27th after crossing the finish line in 17:54.65.

Live results of the Drake Relays can be found at www.drakerelays.org, while live results of the California Collegiate Challenge will be available at www.calbears.com.