FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Drake University men's and women's track and field teams opened their outdoor season with 29 top-10 finishes at the Arkansas Spring Invitational this weekend. The Bulldogs' season opener came against strong competition with programs such as Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri State, Oklahoma State, South Dakota, Tulsa and nationally ranked host Arkansas challenging the team.

"This was our first meet in a month and our first outdoor competition," said Drake head coach Natasha Kaiser-Brown. "We definitely have some glitches to work out but it's good to get into some real competition because it reveals where we need to improve. I completely expect that we will see a much different and more focused team in the coming weeks."

Drake's men's throwers recorded the team's top two finishes as Andy Curtis (Manchester, Iowa) finished second in the hammer throw with a toss of 188-4 on Friday night while David Silkman (Leawood, Kan.) was second as well in the javelin with a mark of 192-3. Curtis also took seventh in the discus with a throw of 140-10.

Sarah Yeager (Ottumwa, Iowa) made her season debut in a Drake uniform and picked up right where she left off by winning the women's 100-meter hurdles in 13.82 and finishing third in the 400-meter hurdles at 1:00.27. The senior also ran a leg on the Bulldogs' 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays that finished fourth and ninth, respectively.

In the longer women's races, Taylor Scholl (Prior Lake, Minn.) and Emma Huston (Des Moines, Iowa) finished fourth and fifth in the seeded heat of the 1,500 meters. Scholl crossed the line in 4:40.14 Huston trailed closed with a personal best time of 4:41.53. Melissa Parks (Norfolk, Neb.) was just off those marks with a 4:42.74 finish to win the unseeded flight of the event.

The men's distance crew also had a productive trip south with Conor Wells (Des Moines, Iowa) turning in a personal best time of 8:29.73 to finish fourth in the 3,000 meters with freshman Reed Fischer (Minnetonka, Minn.) coming in seventh in 8:41.39. In the seeded heat of the 1,500 meters, Rob McCann (Mississauga, Ontario) turned in a personal best of 3:52.27 to finish fifth while Doug Brady (Englewood, Colo.) was 10th.

The men's team's top hurdler Travis Marsh (Ankeny, Iowa) opened up his outdoor campaign by taking ninth in the 110-meter hurdles and sixth in the 400-meter hurdles in 53.58. He also ran a leg on the team's 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays that finished eighth and sixth.

Both teams return to action next weekend on their home track with the annual Jim Duncan Invitational at Drake Stadium April 11-12.