What's Ahead: The Drake men's track and field
squad, after almost a month hiatus, competes at the Arkansas Spring
Invitational on Saturday, March 31 in Fayetteville, Ark. This meet marks the
first outdoor competition for the Bulldogs.
Following The Meet: Live results will be available on GoDrakeBulldogs.com.
Additionally, a live blog will be available on ArkansasRazorbacks.com on
Saturday.
Last Time Out: Sophomore Brogan Austin (Boone, Iowa)
claimed the 5,000-meter crown to lead Drake at the
State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship on Feb. 25 at the UNI Dome.
Austin, who won the
individual conference title in cross-country earlier this academic year,
crossed the line in 14.24.88 to become the first men's athlete at Drake to win
the indoor 5,000-meter crown.
Senior Jon DeGrave (Lake Villa, Ill.) was
second in the 400-meter dash finishing in 48.73, while sophomore teammate Brett Wright (Longmont, Colo.) was
fifth in 49.50. DeGrave snared sixth in the 200-meters clocking in at 22.35.
In the mile,
sophomore Omet Kak (Des Moines, Iowa),
senior Charlie Lapham (Golden Valley,
Minn.) and sophomore Doug Brady (Englewood, Colo.)
finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. Kak and Lapham had times of
4:16.19, while Brady crossed the line in 4:18.15.
Junior Dan Karys (Bartlett, Ill.)
claimed second in the long jump soaring 23 feet 10 inches. Karys soared 48
feet 1.75 inches in the triple jump to tie for fourth-place.
The Bulldog
4x400-meter relay squad of sophomore Travis Marsh (Ankeny,
Iowa), senior Shaun James (Lawrence, Kan.), Wright
and Karys were fourth in 3:18.35.
Austin and Kak
finished third (8:35.05) and fourth (8:35.09), respectively, in the 3,000-meter
race
A Year Ago: Drake head coach Natasha Brown has 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 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 April 2, 2011.
Phillip Beeler (Lenexa, Kan.) and 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.
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. 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).
Jon DeGrave finished second in the
400-meter hurdles with a time of 52.75.
Matt Jurysta (Oshawa, Ontario) was 11th
in the 800-meters finishing in 1:55.52.
Up Next: Drake
will travel west to compete at the Stanford Invitational on April 7.
