What's Ahead: The Drake men's cross country team
will head up I-35 to Minnesota expecting to defend its title at the Oz Memorial
for the third consecutive year. The meet is named after long-time Drake coach
Gary Osborn. The 6,000-meter race starts at 4:30 at the Les Bolstad Golf Course
in Falcon Heights, Minn., on Friday (Sept. 7). The University of Minnesota is
hosting the meet.
Last Time Out: The Bulldogs opened their 2012 campaign
with their only home meet of the season, the Bulldog Classic, in Des Moines on
August 31. Drake had four of the top-12 finishers at the meet, including Charlie Lapham (Golden Valley, Minn.)
who finished third in a time of 12:51.
Conor Wells (Des Moines, Iowa) wasn't far behind
finishing in sixth-place in 12:54. Brogan Austin (Boone, Iowa) was eighth in 12:58 and Ryan Flynn followed in 13:03.
A Year Ago: Powered by three top-10 finishes and
a total team score of 37, the Bulldogs claimed the Oz Memorial team title for
the second consecutive year in dominant fashion. Drake netted the lowest total
team score by 39 points.
Austin, who
won the event in 2010, led the charge for the Bulldogs, collecting a
fourth-place finish, running the course in 19:30.13. He was followed by Omet Kak (Des Moines, Iowa), who
finished seventh in 19:37.44, while Colin Hagan finished tenth in 19:41.60.
Next USTFCCCA rankings: The
Drake men's cross country team opened the 2012 season ranked 12th in the first
United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association
(USTFCCCA) Regional poll of the year.
The next
USTFCCCA regional rankings will come out Sept. 10.
Up Next: The Bulldogs will return to action on Friday,
Sept. 21 back in Des Moines at the Grand View Invitational.
