AMES, IOWA - After running the third-fastest indoor 400 time in school
history last weekend at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational, junior Jon
DeGrave (Lake Villa, Ill.) followed up the performance running the second-fastest 400 mark in school history at the Iowa State Classic on Saturday (Feb.
12).
"Jon is really amazing to be honest," commented Drake track and field head coach Natasha Brown. "With the training that he has done and his performances, he
has put everything in the bank. Now as his coaches we have to be smart with him to make sure that he is sharp at conference."
DeGrave's time of 48.22 earned him a 13th-place finish in the seeded section of the
event.
Junior Charlie Lapham (Golden Valley, Minn.) registered a fifth-place finish in the 800-meter non-seeded race clocking in at
1:54.40. Senior Brandon Lewis (Armstrong, Minn.) was 14th in the event
finishing in 1.55.45.
Freshman Doug Brady (Englewood, Colo.) came in sixth in the non-seeded mile, while junior Matt Jurysta (Oshawa, Ontario) was seventh. Brady clocked in at 4:17.41, while Jurysta
finished in 4:18.10.
Freshman Brogan Austin (Boone, Iowa) earned a 10th in the seeded 3,000 race clocking in at 8:26.66, while freshman Omet Kak (Des Moines, Iowa) was 21st in 8:36.27.
"I really like what the distance guys are doing," said Brown. "There is a group of guys
that are very consistent. They are being aggressive to set themselves up for very good performance and they are fun to watch."
Freshman Brett Wright (Longmont, Colo.) registered a sixth-place finish in the 400-meter non-seeded race finishing in
49.22.
The 4x400 relay team of junior Shaun James (Lawrence, Kan.), sophomore Dan Karys (Bartlett, Ill.) and freshmen Ian Wells (Champaign, Ill.) and Travis Marsh (Ankeny, Iowa) were 21st, clocking in at 3:17.82. The mark is the fastest this season by Drake.
"We are going to be doing some tuning up next weekend at the Iowa Invitational," said
Brown. "We are still working on what some of our relay teams will be as we have some really good athletes. We can do a lot of different orders with individuals and
it is a good problem to have."
The Bulldogs will travel to Iowa City, Iowa next Friday (Feb. 18) to partake in the Iowa
Invitational. The meet marks the last time Drake will be in action before the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track And Field Championship in Cedar
Falls, Iowa on Feb. 26 and 27.
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