Thursday, April 7, 2011
What's
Ahead: After their spring season opener, the
Drake men's track and field team will compete in the Tom Botts Invitational at
the Audrey J. Walton Stadium in Columbia, Mo., this Friday and Saturday (April
8-9). The meet will begin at 2 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Last
Time Out: The Drake men's track
and field team, in its first meets of the spring season, received notable
performances from both veterans and newcomers at the Spring Razorback
Invitational and Central Invite on Saturday (April 2).
Drake head coach Natasha
Brown had been waiting for the first outdoor meet of the season so
the throwers could compete in their regular events.
"It's hard for them to sit on the
sidelines for seven months waiting for the spring to arrive so they can compete
in their regular events," said Brown.
The throwers didn't disappoint as all of them turned in
solid performances at the Spring Razorback Invitational on Saturday (April 2)
in Fayetteville, Ark.
Freshman Phillip
Beeler (Lenexa, Kan.) and sophomore Kevin
Harp (Iowa City, Iowa) were fifth and sixth in the javelin. Beeler's
longest throw was 197 feet 5 inches, while Harp's throw of 186 feet 9 inches in
the fourth round was his best on the day.
Sophomore Isaac
Twombly (Baldwin, Kan.) was third in the hammer throw with a toss of
145 feet 10 inches, and ninth in the discus with a throw of 136 feet. Freshman Andy
Curtis (Manchester, Iowa) placed fifth in the hammer with a
heave of 131 feet 10 inches and 11th in the discus (127 feet 8
inches).
Junior Jon
DeGrave (Lake Villa, Ill.) finished second in the 400-meter hurdles
with a time of 52.75.
Junior Matt
Jurysta (Oshawa, Ontario) was 11th in the 800-meters finishing in
1:55.52.
The distance trio of freshman Omet
Kak (Des Moines, Iowa), junior Charlie
Lapham (Golden Valley, Minn.) and freshman Brogan
Austin (Boone, Iowa) finished 12th (3:57.41), 15th (3:58.90) and 16th
(4:00.54) respectively in the 1,500-meter race.
Freshman Ian
Wells (Champaign, Ill.) was 13th in the 400-meter dash crossing the
line in 50.39.
In the 3,000-meters, junior Ben
Jaskowiak (Madison, Wis.) had a time of 8:54.68 to finish 15th.
At the Central Invite in Pella, Iowa, freshman
Alex
Kaster (Omaha, Neb.) took home the triple jump title while fellow
freshman Jason
Wood (Overland Park, Kan.) was second in the 110-meter hurdles.
Kaster soared 42 feet 10.75 inches to
win the triple jump crown, while Wood finished second in the 110-meter hurdles
clocking in at 16.26.
Junior Colin
Hagan (Wichita, Kan.) was third in the 1,500-meter race in 4:06.78,
while freshman Ryan
Flynn (Bettendorf, Iowa) was fifth in the 800-meters with a time of
2:01.96.
Up
Next: Drake will host its first meet of the season on April 15
and 16 when teams from across the Midwest will converge on Des Moines to
compete in the Jim Duncan Invitational.
