Thursday, April 28, 2011

The Drake track team opened up its busy weekend with athletes competing both at the Drake Relays and at the Kip Janvrin Open in Indianola, Iowa.

Austin Nabs Second-Place Finish At Drake Relays

DES MOINES, Iowa - In his first 10,000-meter race of his collegiate career, freshman Brogan Austin (Boone, Iowa) finished second at the 102nd running of the Drake Relays held at historic Drake Stadium.

"It's an awesome thing," commented Austin. "I was going for sub-30 and I got it so I am definitely happy with where I finished. I just wanted to go out there and hang with the big dogs. I had my friends down the backstretch reminding me of all that stuff. Coming back to this atmosphere helped me as it gave me almost a home-field advantage."

Austin ran the 25-lap circuit in a time of 29:54.96, the fourth best time this season in the Missouri Valley Conference.

"It is definitely an outstanding debut race in that distance," commented assistant track coach and head cross-country coach Dan Hostager. "You don't really know what to expect on the Drake when you run a race like that."

Junior Charlie Lapham (Golden Valley, Minn.) earned a ninth-place finish in the men's unseeded 800-meter run clocking in at 1:55.12.

Twombly Smashes Hammer Throw Record Again

INDIANOLA, Iowa - For the second time in a one-week span, sophomore Isaac Twombly (Baldwin, Kan.) broke the school-record in the hammer throw at the Kip Janvrin Open at Simpson College.

Twombly's throw of 168 feet broke his old school record by 16 inches, which he set last Saturday (April 23) at the Musco Twilight.

Twombly is slated to also compete in the hammer throw at the Drake Relays on Saturday.

Drake will wrap up competition tomorrow at the Kip Janvrin Open as action is slated to start at 2 p.m.  The Bulldogs will also partake in the Drake Relays which begin at 8 a.m.