What's Ahead: The Drake women's track and field
team will host its first meet of the outdoor campaign this weekend as schools
from the Midwest will come to Des Moines, Iowa to compete in the Jim Duncan
Invitational this weekend (April 13-14). The meet, held at historic Drake
Stadium will start on Friday (April 13) at 3:30 p.m., while action on Saturday
(April 14) will begin at 8:30 a.m.
Following
The Meet: Live
results of the Jim Duncan Invitational will be available on GoDrakeBulldogs.com. Additionally,
updates will be provided on Twitter through the DUBulldogs account.
About The Meet: Twelve colleges and universities, along with high
schools from the Central Iowa Metropolitan League will take part in the 36th running of the Jim Duncan invitational. This marks only the fourth year of high
schools competing at the event.
About Jim Duncan: This weekend's track meet honors former Drake
track letter winner and Drake Relays announcer, Jim Duncan. Duncan served as
public address announcer of the Drake Relays from 1951 until his death in 1989.
A native of Clearfield,
Iowa, Duncan attended Drake University, receiving his degree in 1931. He later
was a professor of radio and journalism at Drake for 31 years until his
retirement from teaching in 1981. Before retiring from Drake, he was named one
of the nation's "super profs" by Esquire
Magazine.
Duncan competed in track
while at Drake, winning a Missouri Valley Conference title in the quarter-mile
in 1930. He continued running into the 1970s and competed in the master's
division at regional and national track and field events for several years,
finishing in the 220 and 440 at the 1971 U.S. Masters.
Duncan began teaching at
Drake in 1950 and working as "Voice of the Relays" in 1951,
announcing only the morning events until 1962 when he took control of
announcing the entire schedule of events.
The
Drake Stadium oval was renamed "The Jim Duncan Track" during
ceremonies in 1988. Duncan died April 12, 1989, after a heart attack.
Last Time Out: Junior Marissa Smith (Ajax, Ontario) finished 10th in the 100-meter
hurdles, while senior Ari Curtis
(Fort Collins, Colo.) claimed 11th-place in the 400-meter hurdles at the
Stanford Invitational.
Smith's
time of 13.91 in the 100-meter hurdles was a season best and ranks third in the
Missouri Valley Conference.
Curtis
crossed the line in 1:02.25 in her second meet of the young outdoor season.
Junior
Whitney Westrum (Waukee, Iowa) was
18th in the 400-meter dash in 57.24. Westrum also competed in the 200-meter
dash with a time of 25.25 to finish
34th.
Fellow junior Kirsten Lake (Parker, Colo.) snared
31st in the 800-meters clocking in at 2:11.16. That time was a personal best
and ranks fourth in the Valley.
Up Next: Drake
remains in state next weekend when it travels to Iowa City, Iowa to compete at
the Musco Twilight on April 20.
