Friday, October 14, 2011
PEORIA, Ill. - Led by the sophomore duo of Brogan Austin (Boone, Iowa) and Omet Kak
(Des Moines, Iowa), the Drake men's cross country squad won another team title
at the Bradley Classic Friday (Oct. 14) moving its total to five team victories
this fall.
Austin nabbed his second runner-up finish in as many weeks concluding
the 8,000-meter course at the Newman Golf Course in 24:21.7, which was less
than one second behind race winner Ross Clarke of Butler. Austin's time is the
best mark posted in the Missouri Valley Conference this season in the
8,000-meter race.
Kak's time of 25:09.0 earned the Des Moines native a seventh-place
finish against a field of 188 runners from 19 schools across the Midwest.
Drake wrapped up the meet with a team score of 76 points, edging out
conference foe Wichita State, who ended the contest with 111 points. The
Bulldogs also defeated South Dakota State and Butler, two schools that are
ranked higher than Drake in their respected United States Track and Field and
Cross Country Coaches Association regions.
"It is a great turn around from last year," commented Austin. "We have
built a great atmosphere on the team this year and it is fun to share the
accomplishment after all of our hard work."
Senior Colin Hagan (Wichita,
Kan.) was 11th finishing in 25:14.6. Rounding out the top five for
the Bulldogs were junior Charlie Lapham
(Golden Valley, Minn.) and freshman Conor Wells (Des Moines, Iowa) who were 27th (25:38.4) and 29th (25:41.5),
respectively.
"We still have some work to do before MVC's but I'm pleased with the
efforts across the board," commented head coach Dan Hostager.
Drake will travel to Terre Haute, Ind., on Oct. 30 to partake in the
State Farm MVC Cross Country Championship. The 8,000-meter race will
be held at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.
