LINCOLN, Neb. – The Drake University track and field teams recorded more strong individual performances on Saturday during the final day of competition at the Holiday Inn Invite, hosted by the University of Nebraska.
 
The Bulldogs got 10 top-five performances against a strong field that included competitors from the likes of Nebraska and Oklahoma State in their first competition since early December.

"Coming off of a long winter break and having great performances at our December meet," said co-interim head coach LaRon Bennett. "I was anxious to see where our fitness level was as a team and I was satisfied with how our team competed, especially our freshman. To come off a break and to have a big meet like Nebraska be your first meet back can be overwhelming, but the team showed great maturity in handling that pressure."

Mary Young (Urbandale, Iowa) and Rai Ahmed-Green (Irvine, Calif.) led the women's team with a pair of first-place finishes. Young equaled her personal best to win the 60-meter hurdles in 8.49 while Ahmed-Green won the 400 meters in 56.50. Young also finished fourth in the 60 meters in 7.81 while Ahmed-Green narrowly missed her person best in finishing third in the 200 meters in 25.14.

"Mary started us off with a personal best in the preliminary heats of the 60 meters, then she followed that up with a 8.49 in the hurdles and really lead the way for the team this week," Bennett said. "Rai also had a great showing in the 200 with her 25.14. She had some great practices this week, so it was great to see her hard work pay off."

In addition to their individual successes, Young and Ahmed-Green teamed up to lead off the Bulldogs' second-place 4x400-meter relay that finished in 3:50.61, the seventh-fastest time in school history.
 
The men's team was led by Bas Van Leersum (Zandaam, The Netherlands) with a third-place finish of 48.29 in the 400 meters. Van Leersum also ran the anchor leg on the Bulldogs' fifth-place 4x400-meter relay team that finished in 3:21.36. 

"Bas has been putting in some fast practice times and it's great to see the results of that," Bennett added. "He has some big goals, so we are just taking it week by week in order to hit those goals. We had a plan to come in and shoot for 48.5. So, for him to run 48.2 shows he's ahead of schedule."

In the field events, Johnathan Osifuye (Woodbury, Minn.) was just shy of his personal best in the triple jump with a fifth-place jump of 48-0.5. Taryn Rolle (Nassau, The Bahamas) had similar success in the women's triple jump by finishing third with a leap of 39-6.
 
The Bulldogs continue their indoor season on Jan. 20 at the Tiger Invite, hosted by the University of Missouri.
 
 
Drake Individual Men's Results
60 Meters
12. Demetrius Shelton, 7.05
19. Deonne Witherspoon, 7.09
 
200 Meters
6. Caulin Graves, 22.18
 
400 Meters
3. Bas Van Leersum, 48.29
24. Hudson Priebe, 53.08
 
60-Meter Hurdles
10. Dominic Lombardi, 8.52
12. Hudson Priebe, 8.55
 
Distance Medley Relay
4. Yeager, Cozine, Webb, Fischer, 10:15.41
 
4x400-Meter Relay
5. Priebe, Barrow, Lombardi, Van Leersum, 3:21.36
 
Triple Jump
5. Johnathan Osifuye, 48-0.5 – just shy of PR
 
Shot Put
10. Ryan Lemke, 41-8
 
 
 
Drake Individual Women's Results
60 Meters (Final)
4. Mary Young, 7.81
 
60 Meters (Prelims)
4. Mary Young, 7.81
13. Mariah Crawford, 7.96
16. Ebele Okoye, 8.07
 
200 Meters
3. Rai Ahmed-Green, 25.14
18. Kaylen Rettig, 26.54
 
400 Meters
1. Rai Ahmed-Green, 56.50
11. Mariah Crawford, 59.56
13. Ebele Okoye, 1:00.68
 
600 Meters
7. Meghan Kearney, 1:38.66
8. Kayla Guiliano, 1:39.17
 
60-Meter Hurdles (Final)
1. Mary Young, 8.49
6. Victoria Coombe, 9.11
 
60-Meter Hurdles (Prelims)
1. Mary Young, 8.62
4. Victoria Coombe, 9.17
28. Bryce Lang, 10.03
 
Distance Medley Relay
8. Cole, Lang, Nicholson, Garcia, 13:03.59
 
4x400-Meter Relay
2. Ahmed-Green, Young, Crawford, Okoye, 3:50.61
 
Triple Jump
3. Taryn Rolle, 39-6