Friday, June 3, 2011

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Drake junior Jon DeGrave (Lake Villa, Ill.) and sophomore Dan Karys (Bartlett, Ill.) earned All-Missouri Valley Conference Men's Track And Field Scholar-Athlete honors when the league announced its annual awards.

A finance major in the College of Business and Public Administration, DeGrave holds a 3.63 grade-point average.  This marks the second year in a row he has earned scholar-athlete honors from the league. A year ago, he was named a U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division I Track & Field All-Academic honoree and was the recipient of a 2009-10 MVC Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award.

DeGrave became the first men's athlete since Jason Lehmkuhle in 2000 to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track And Field Championships as the 400-meter hurdler shattered the school record at the NCAA West Regional clocking in at 50.59. DeGrave also won his second MVC title last month and finished sixth at the Drake Relays in the 400-meter hurdles.

Karys, who owns a 3.21 GPA majoring in accounting and business, has been one of the most versatile performers in the Valley, competing in the long jump, triple jump and running on numerous relay teams for the Bulldogs.

He had an impressive showing in the State Farm MVC Outdoor Track And Field Championship earning a second-place showing in the long jump with a personal best of 23 feet 11.5 inches.