Wednesday, October 5, 2011

What's Ahead: The Drake men's cross country team will take its talents to Orlando, Fla., to compete at the Walt Disney Cross Country Classic on Saturday (Oct. 8). Start time for the meet, held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, is at 6:45 a.m. (CT). The race will also be the third 8,000-meter race the men's team will run this campaign.

Last Time Out Fueled by sophomore Doug Brady (Englewood, Colo.) winning the individual title, the Drake men's "B" cross country squad captured the Grand View Invitational title on Friday (Sept. 30).

Brady ran the 8,000-meter course at Ewing Park in 25:47 to propel the Bulldogs to finish with a team score of 24 points. This marks the third meet Drake has won this year.

Fellow sophomore Ryan Flynn (Bettendorf, Iowa) earned a fourth-place showing finishing in 26:22, while junior Mike Rodriguez (Chanhassen, Minn.) finished in fifth crossing the line in 26:31.

Also finishing in the top-10 for Drake were sophomore Matt Eckman (Iowa City, Iowa) with his eighth-place finish (26:45) and senior Matt Jurysta (Oshawa, Ontario) who was 10th (26:59).

Drake Ranked 12th In USTFCCCA Midwest Regional Rankings: The Drake men's cross country team remains 12th in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Midwest Region poll.

The Bulldogs began the year ranked 12th before rising to ninth after their Oz Memorial team title in early September.

Up Next: After a weekend in the sun, the Bulldogs will travel to the Bradley Classic in their final tune up before the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championship on Oct. 14.