CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Junior Beth Hoge clears a hurdle as a Colorado runner gives chase. Hoge and the Wildcats had strong showings at the Drake Relays and the UCSD Triton Invitational over the weekend.

UA track and field enjoyed success in Iowa and San Diego this weekend, returning some familiar faces and adding some new ones to the already-potent lineup.

Arizona sent a full squad, minus its throwers, to the 94th annual running of the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. The throwers headed to San Diego to compete in the UCSD Triton Invitational.

The Wildcats put forth a strong effort, versus some of their toughest competition to date, despite not claiming any first place finishes.

"We didn't secure the same number of championships as we did last week," head coach Fred Harvey said. "We got really, really close."

Arizona landed eight of its athletes in the top five of their respective events and 11 in the top 10 overall in Des Moines, including several as high as second. All totaled, the Wildcats earned nine improved or new qualifying marks, and nine new personal bests.

One of those second place marks belonged to emerging team leader, Jeff Hunter.

Hunter led the Wildcats, finishing as the runner-up in the 110-meter hurdles. Only a sophomore, Hunter sped to the second spot with a time of 14.00 seconds. In fact, Hunter's time tied him for first place in the event, the winner being determined by mere fractions of a second.

Sharifa Jones sped the Wildcats to another second place finish, this one also coming in the hurdles. The sophomore's time of 13.72 in the 100-meter hurdles was good enough to earn her a new personal best.

"She had a great meet," Harvey said of the multi-talented Jones. "She did so many things for us."

Jones was also a member of both the women's 4 by 100-meter relay and 4 by 400-meter relay squads. The University of Michigan transfer ran leadoff for those new-look squads.

Competing in her first outdoor meet of the season, Amy Linnen vaulted herself back into the Wildcats' lineup. The pole-vaulter took eighth place with a leap of 12 feet, 10 inches in her first meet since sustaining a foot injury toward the end of the indoor season.

"The nice thing is that we know she can vault," Harvey said of one of the nation's premier vaulters. "We want to get her back in front of the crowd and to work on her sprinting down the runway. We think she is going to do some bigger and better things this coming weekend and into the conference championships."

The Wildcats continue their outdoor season next weekend, competing against in-state rivals Northern Arizona and Arizona State in Tempe, in an invitational dubbed by Harvey as "the meet."

"We'll be going up there with the intentions of beating them, and beating them pretty good on both sides," Harvey said.