Saturday, April 16, 2011

DES MOINES, Iowa - Sophomore Dan Karys (Bartlett, Ill.) took home the triple jump title and finished second in the long jump Saturday at the Jim Duncan Invitational at Drake Stadium.

Karys won the triple jump with his leap of 46 feet 5.50 inches, his second best mark of the season in the event. Karys achieved a personal best in the long jump as he soared 23 feet 4.75 inches.

"Overall, Dan had a pretty solid meet," commented head coach Natasha Brown. "It was tough for him in the jumps as it was hard to judge the wind. He did a nice job today and it was nice to see that his long jump is improving."

Junior Matt Jurysta (Oshawa, Ontario) had a strong charge at the end of the 1,500-meter race crossing the line in 3:57.48 to finish third.

"I was pleased how he raced," said Brown. "He put himself in contention. He needed that finish to get back some confidence."

Senior Brandon Lewis (Plymouth, Minn.) earned a third-place finish in the 800-meter race clocking in at 1:53.80, while junior Charlie Lapham (Golden Valley, Minn.) was fourth finishing in 1:54.46.

The freshman tandem of Travis Marsh (Ankeny, Iowa) and Nick Oestreich (Bettendorf, Iowa) finished fourth and fifth in the 400-meter hurdles clocking in at 57.07 and 57.34 respectively.

The 4x100-meter relay team of senior Stephen Murray (Bellevue, Neb.), Marsh, Karys and junior Jon DeGrave (Lake Villa, Ill.) had a time of 42.59 to earn garner a second-place showing.

"It will be hard to replicate some of the performances our athletes had this weekend in their specific events," said Brown. "We will look at some different events for those athletes to keep them sharp."

The Bulldogs will return to action next Saturday (April 23) when they travel to Iowa City, Iowa to partake in the Musco Twilight.

Overall, 18 Jim Duncan Invitational records were broken during the two-day affair.