Men's Track and Field 4/13/2011 6:45:00 PM Drake Athletics

Men?s Track Team Prepares For Jim Duncan Invitational

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

What's Ahead: The Drake men's track and field team will host its first meet of the outdoor campaign this weekend as schools from the Midwest will come to Des Moines, Iowa to compete in the Jim Duncan Invitational this weekend (April 15-16). The meet, held at historic Drake Stadium will start on Friday (April 15) at 3:30 p.m., while action on Saturday (April 16) will begin at 8:30 a.m.

About Jim Duncan: This weekend's track meet honors a former Drake track letter-winner and Drake Relays announcer, Jim Duncan. Duncan served as public address announcer of the Drake Relays from 1951 until his death in 1989.

A native of Clearfield, Iowa, Duncan graduated from Drake in 1931. He later was a professor of radio and journalism at Drake for 31 years until his retirement from teaching in 1981. Before retiring from Drake, he was named one of the nation's "super profs" by Esquire Magazine.

Duncan competed in track while at Drake, winning a Missouri Valley Conference title in the quarter-mile in 1930. He continued running into the 1970s and competed in the master's division at regional and national track and field events for several years, finishing in the 220 and 440 at the 1971 U.S. Masters.

Duncan began teaching at Drake in 1950 and working as "Voice of the Relays" in 1951, announcing only the morning events until 1962 when he took control of announcing the entire schedule of events.

The Drake Stadium oval was renamed "The Jim Duncan Track" during ceremonies in 1988. Duncan died April 12, 1989, after a heart attack.

Last Time Out: In only the second outdoor meet of the season, sophomore Kevin Harp (Iowa City, Iowa) broke his own school record in the javelin with his throw of 205 feet 2 inches at the Tom Botts Invitational on April 8 and 9 in Columbia, Mo.

Harp, who finished second in the event, broke his old record by almost three feet, which he set last year at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track And Field Championship.

Freshman Phillip Beeler (Lenexa, Kan.) garnered a sixth-place showing in the javelin with his throw of 189 feet 10 inches.

Sophomore Dan Karys (Bartlett, Ill.) took home the triple jump crown with his personal-best leap of 48 feet 1.75 inches. Karys also earned a fourth-place in the long jump with his jump of 21 feet 11.5 inches.

Freshman Omet Kak (Des Moines, Iowa) finished second in the 1,500-meter race clocking in at 3:52.23, a season best.

The third second-place showing by the Bulldogs on the day belonged to junior Jon DeGrave (Lake Villa, Ill.) who finished second in the 400-meter hurdles. DeGrave crossed the line in 52.09, which was over six-tenths of a second lower than his mark from last week.

Freshman Brogan Austin (Boone, Iowa) earned a third-place showing in the 3,000-meter race clocking in at 8:40.38. Kak, in his second race of the day, placed seventh, finishing in 8:55.97.

Senior Colin Coomer (Overland Park, Kan.) placed fifth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase crossing the line in 9:47.55.

Junior Charlie Lapham (Golden Valley, Minn.) was 12th in the 800-meters with a time of 1:55.67.

Freshman Ian Wells (Champaign, Ill.) registered a ninth-place finish in the 400-meter dash clocking in at 49.44, while senior Brandon Lewis (Plymouth, Minn.) was 13th in 50.04.