What's Ahead: The Drake men's track and field team will host its first meet of the outdoor season this weekend as schools from the Midwest will descend on the Blue Oval at Drake Stadium to compete at the Jim Duncan Invitational. The invite 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 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: Senior Jon DeGrave (Lake Villa, Ill.) claimed fourth-place in the 400-meter hurdles at the Stanford Invitational on April 6.

DeGrave, a two-time Missouri Valley Conference champion in the 400-meter hurdles, crossed the line in 53.27.

Junior Kevin Harp (Iowa City, Iowa) finished in eighth in the invitational round of the men's javelin with a toss of 196 feet.

Sophomore Brett Wright (Longmont, Colo.) was 34th in the 400-meter dash in 49.83.

Meanwhile, at the San Francisco Distance Carnival, junior Charlie Lapham (Golden Valley, Minn.) ran a personal best of 3:51.55 in the 1500-meters to snare second-place. Sophomore Doug Brady (Cherry Creek, Colo.) was 11th in 3:57.19.

Also competing this weekend for Drake were throwers Isaac Twombly (Baldwin, Kan.), Andy Curtis (Manchester, Iowa) and Phillip Beeler (Lenexa, Kan.) at the Jock's Nitch Northwest Open in Maryville, Missouri. Twombly netted two second-place finishes in the hammer throw (152 feet 6 inches) and the discus (163 feet 5 inches). Curtis won the hammer throw in 156 feet 10 inches, while Beeler claimed the javelin crown with a heave of 193 feet 1 inch.

Up Next: The Bulldogs stay in state next weekend to tackle the Musco Twilight in Iowa City, Iowa on April 20.