Tuesday, January 10, 2012
What's Ahead: The
Drake men's track and field team, after its season opener a month ago at the
Iowa State Holiday Preview, will resume competition on Saturday (Jan. 14) when
it travels to the Graphic Edge Alumni Meet hosted by the University of South
Dakota. Start time at the Dakota Dome in Vermillion, S.D., is set for 10 a.m.
Last Time Out: Senior Jon DeGrave (Lake
Villa, Ill.,) won the 300-meter dash and was a part of the winning Bulldog
4x300-meter relay squad while junior Isaac Twombly (Baldwin, Kan.) broke his own school record in the weight throw at
the Iowa State Holiday Classic on Dec. 9, 2011.
DeGrave, a two-time Missouri Valley Conference
champion in the 400-meter hurdles who earned honorable mention All-America
accolades last year in the 400-meter hurdles, won the 300-meter dash with a
time of 34.54. Fellow senior Shaun
James
(Lawrence, Kan.) was third in at 34.58, while sophomore Ian Wells (Champaign, Ill.) ran 34.74 to finish seventh.
The 4x300 relay team of sophomore Travis Marsh (Ankeny, Iowa), DeGrave, junior Dan Karys (Bartlett, Ill.) and James had a
winning time of 2:20.34.
Twombly, the school record holder in
the indoor weight throw and hammer throw, had a toss of 59 feet 7 inches to
claim second-place in the weight throw and to break his Drake record of 56 feet
4.5 inches that he set last year. Sophomore Andy Curtis (Manchester, Iowa) was ninth with a heave of 49 feet
5.75 inches.
Karys was second in the long jump
(23 feet .75 inches) and sixth in the triple jump (45 feet). Sophomore Alex Kaster (Omaha, Neb.) was third in
the triple jump (45 feet 5.25 inches) and ninth in the long jump (20 feet 7.75
inches).
Sophomore Ryan Flynn (Bettendorf, Iowa) was third in the 3,000-meter race, finishing in 9:06.19.
A Year Ago: Jon DeGrave won
the 200-meter dash to highlight action for Drake at the Graphic Edge
Alumni Meet at the University of South Dakota on Jan. 15, 2011.
DeGrave won the race
with a time of 22.31. Sophomore Brandon Ridlen (Griswold, Iowa) finished eighth with
a time of 23.46 and Ian Wells ran
23.85 to place 13th.
Travis Marsh finished
third in the 400-meter dash in 51.37.
Dan Karys was
fourth in the long jump and the triple jump. Karys jumped 21-10.00 in the long
jump and 44-01.50 in the triple jump. Alex Kaster finished
seventh in the long jump with a leap of 20-07.25.
Up Next: The Bulldogs will make the trek north
on Interstate 35 to Ames to compete at the Iowa State Open on Jan. 20 and 21.
