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Drake University Athletics

Men?s Track Looks For Strong Showings At Conference Meet

Men's Track and Field Drake Athletics

Men?s Track Looks For Strong Showings At Conference Meet

Thursday, May 12, 2011

What's Ahead: The Drake men's track and field team will take its talents to Cedar Falls, Iowa, for the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track And Field Championship. The meet, which will last from Friday to Sunday (May 13-15) and takes place at the Mark Messersmith Track and Field Complex. Combined events will begin Friday at 10 a.m. and Saturday at 10:30 a.m., while action on Sunday kicks off at 11 a.m. with the men's pole vault.

Last Time Out: Freshman Omet Kak (Des Moines, Iowa) set another collegiate personal best en route to a third-place showing in the 1500-meter race at the Arkansas Twilight.

Kak's time of 3:47.43 was faster than all of the other collegians competing in the event. It also was a half second faster than his old personal best set April 30 at the Drake Relays.

Junior Matt Jurysta (Oshawa, Ontario) was ninth crossing the line in 3:51.03, also a personal best.

Senior Brandon Lewis (Plymouth, Minn.) and junior Charlie Lapham (Golden Valley, Minn.) were 11th and 12th, respectively, in the 800-meter dash finishing in 1:53.25 and 1:53.28.

In his final tune up before looking to defend his conference crown in the 400-meter hurdles, junior Jon DeGrave (Lake Villa, Ill.) ran a conservative race clocking in at 54:05 to finish eighth.

A Year Ago: Jon DeGrave (Lake Villa, Ill.) won the 400 intermediate hurdles in a personal best time of 51.27 seconds to highlight action for the Drake men's track and field team at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. He was also named Most Outstanding Men's Track Athlete of the meet.

DeGrave became just the fourth athlete in Drake history to win the league title in the 400 hurdles, joining Dave Carlson who captured the league crown twice in 1966 and 1967 along with Dan Cleveland (1983) and Theotto Lillard (2005).

Jeff Grassmeyer was third in both the 1,500 and 5,000-meter runs. Grassmeyer was timed in 3:54.89 in the 1,500, while Charlie Lapham (Golden Valley, Minn.) was fifth in 3:55.96. Grassmeyer closed out his collegiate career by being clocked in 14:29.79 en route to a third-place finish in the 5,000.

Brandon Lewis (Plymouth, Minn.) was sixth in the 800 in 1:57.23 after running a season best 1:53.21 in the qualifying round. Lapham placed eighth in the finals of the 800 in 1:57.27. Shaun James (Lawrence, Kan.) was eighth in the finals of the 200 in 21.77.

Kevin Harp (Iowa City, Iowa) broke Dan Beattie's school record in the javelin with his then record throw of 202 feet 6 inches.

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Players Mentioned

Jeff Grassmeyer

Jeff Grassmeyer

Distance
Senior
Matt Jurysta

Matt Jurysta

Distance
Freshman
Charlie Lapham

Charlie Lapham

Distance
Freshman
Brandon Lewis

Brandon Lewis

Distance
Sophomore
Jon DeGrave

Jon DeGrave

Sprints/Hurdles
Freshman
Shaun James

Shaun James

Sprints/Hurdles
Freshman
Omet Kak

Omet Kak

Distance
Junior
Kevin Harp

Kevin Harp

Throws
Junior

Players Mentioned

Jeff Grassmeyer

Jeff Grassmeyer

Senior
Distance
Matt Jurysta

Matt Jurysta

Freshman
Distance
Charlie Lapham

Charlie Lapham

Freshman
Distance
Brandon Lewis

Brandon Lewis

Sophomore
Distance
Jon DeGrave

Jon DeGrave

Freshman
Sprints/Hurdles
Shaun James

Shaun James

Freshman
Sprints/Hurdles
Omet Kak

Omet Kak

Junior
Distance
Kevin Harp

Kevin Harp

Junior
Throws