What's Ahead: The Drake men's track team will travel to the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa to compete in the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship this Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 26-27).

The meet will start on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. with the women's pentathlon 60-meter hurdles. The first event on Sunday will be the men's heptathlon 60-meter hurdles at 9:30.

Last Time Out: Drake won three titles in its final tune up of the season before the conference meet at the Iowa Invitational on Friday (Feb. 18).

Drake had the top six finishers in the 800-meter race as junior Matt Jurysta (Oshawa, Ontario) won the contest while setting a personal record of 1:55.60. Senior Brandon Lewis (Plymouth, Minn.) was second finishing in 1:56.36, while junior Charlie Lapham (Golden Valley, Minn.) had a time of 1:57.27 to place third.

Junior Shaun James (Lawrence, Kan.) took home the 400-meter crown clocking in at 51.55.

Sophomore Dan Karys (Bartlett, Ill.) leapt 22 feet 2.25 inches in the long jump to win the event.

Sophomore Brandon Ridlen (Griswold, Iowa) finished fifth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.25, a season best.

Sophomore Mike Rodriguez (Chanhassen, Minn.) was timed in 4:32.32 in the mile to finish second.

The Bulldogs had four of the top six finishers in the 200-meter dash. Freshman Brett Wright (Longmont, Colo.) registered a third place finish finishing in 23.30, while sophomore Bryan Kosusnik (Sycamore, Ill.) was fourth running a time of 23.41. Freshmen Travis Marsh (Ankeny, Iowa) and Ian Wells (Champaign, Ill.) were fifth and sixth finishing in 23.47 and 23.48 respectively.

Sophomore Isaac Twombly (Baldwin, Kan.) earned a tenth place finish in the weight throw with a toss of 49 feet 2.50 inches. Freshman Andy Curtis (Manchester, Iowa) finished two places behind Twombly with a throw of 47 feet 10.50 inches, a personal best.

The Drake "B" 4x400 relay team of Marsh, Wells, Jason Wood (Overland Park, Kan.) and Lewis finished second clocking in at 3:24.73. The Drake "A" team of Wright, James, Jon DeGrave (Lake Villa, Ill.) and Karys were third finishing in 3:26.69.

A Year Ago: Senior Josh Bangert overcame a hamstring injury to finish second in the men's long jump at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship.

Bangert soared 23 feet 10 inches.

Jon DeGrave   finished third in the men's 400-meter dash as he was timed in 49.29 seconds. He closed out the meet by running the first leg on the Bulldogs' 4x400 relay which finished fourth in 3:20.73. Other members of the relay were Kevin Earl, Brandon Lewis and Anthony Pettaway.

Charlie Lapham placed sixth in the 800 in 1:56.44, while Shaun James was seventh in the 200 in 22.39.

Jeff Grassmeyer was seventh in the mile in 4:19.49 and finished 10th in the 5,000 in 14:51.97. He placed sixth in the finals of the 3,000 in 8:43.37.

Up Next: The Bulldogs will travel north to Ames, Iowa, for the Iowa State Last Chance meet on March 5.