Besides the naming of eight additions to the Drake Relays Athletes of the Century, Drake Relays director Brian Brown unveiled two major announcements regarding the 100th running of America's Athletic Classic April 22-25 during a Thursday news conference.
 
Doug Logan, chief executive officer of USA Track and Field, joined via a teleconference disclosing that the historic running of the Drake Relays will be televised on ESPN2.

Brown also disclosed that Asics will be a presenting sponsor of the Drake Relays.
 
The Saturday, April 25, session of the Drake Relays will be shown on a tape-delayed basis on Sunday, April 26, tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m. Central time on ESPN2.
 
"We're delighted to be part of this celebration of a great sporting event in the Midwest," said Logan. "The 100th anniversary of the Drake Relays is part of the legacy of track and field history in our country.
 
"We see this event as being one of the important meets offered during the course of any given year and it caused us to take a look at our involvement in the two major events that take place during the course of the same weekend, that being the Drake and Penn Relays.  USA Track and Field is designating the last weekend of April as Relays Weekend. We think it will be a great opportunity for our fans throughout the country to be able to follow what has traditionally been  the announcement that spring and the outdoor track and field season have arrived."
 
Logan also disclosed that this year's Drake Relays will be part of the Visa Championship Series.
 
The Visa Championship Series is a prestigious series of nationally televised USA Track and Field (USATF) competitions featuring the very best track and field athletes from Team USA, the world's No. 1 track team. The 2009 Visa Championship Series also includes the USA vs. The World at the Penn Relays, April 25; Adidas Track Classic May 16 in Carson, Calif.,  the Reebok Grand Prix, New York, N.Y., May 30; the Nike Prefontaine Classic, June 7, Eugene, Ore.; and the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championship, June 25-28, Eugene, Ore.
 
The top American male finisher and top American female finisher in each event of the Visa Championship Series will have their performances assigned a point total based on the IAAF Scoring Table of Athletics. The athlete whose performance has the highest point total at the end of the Visa Championship Series will be named the Visa Champion.
 
Gary Slayton, vice president of marketing and communications for Asics Americas, was excited about the company's relationship with Brown.
 
"The Drake Relays has been an event that we have admired from a distance and now we're honored to establish this great relationship," said Slayton. "We have a desire to expand our present base and hope that as a global company working with the Drake Relays can be part of the solution in achieving that goal."
 
Several world-class athletes who compete for Asics will attend the Drake Relays including Lolo Jones, who finished seventh in the 100 hurdles at the 2008 Olympics;  two-time Olympian Suzy Powell-Roos, who is the American record-holder in the women's discus (222-0); and four-time Olympian Amy Acuff in the women's high jump.         
 
Jones recently captured her third consecutive National Indoor Championship in the 60 hurdles with her winning time of 7.84 fast enough to win a second consecutive VISA Championship, an award given to the best performer for the men and women this indoor season.