DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University track and field teams closed out the 39^th annual Jim Duncan Invitational with wins in five events and a total of 50 top-10 finishes over the two-day event.

In team scoring, the Drake men's team defeated Iowa's squad, 281-155, but fell in the standings to South Dakota State, 333-261. The Bulldog women handled Omaha, 246-240, and Iowa, 271-76. The squad was clipped by South Dakota State, 326-205.

Drake's hurdlers highlighted the afternoon on the Blue Oval with 11 top-10 performances over the four events.

Freshman Mary Young (Urbandale, Iowa) continued her strong debut season by winning the women's 100-meter hurdles by nearly a full second. She finished in 14.17 into a strong headwind that challenged runners along the homestretch. Destani Welch (Des Moines, Iowa) came in third in 15.16 while Virginia Hill (Haymarket, Va.) was fourth in 15.20.

“Both Virginia and Mary got out well and finished strong,” said Drake head coach Natasha Kaiser-Brown. “Both were very competitive, which was exciting to see. Mary has been working on some things that are coming together for her. Virginia looked strong and I don't know if I've ever seen her run so strong.”

Later in the afternoon, Hill finished second in the 400-meter hurdles in a personal best of 1:00.39 while Young was fourth in 1:02.88, also a personal best.

The men also enjoyed success in the hurdles with Kai Asberry (Carrollton, Texas) finishing second overall with the fastest time by a collegian at 52.29. He was edged by his coach LaRon Bennett, who won in 51.72.

“Kai Asberry has been consistent all season and that consistency is going to lead to a big jump in times for him soon,” Kaiser-Brown added. 

Hudson Priebe (Chamberlain, S.D.) was third in the event in 53.48. Earlier in the day, Priebe was fourth in the men's 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.43.

The jumps also yielded solid marks for the Bulldogs with Kayla Bell (Bollingbrook, Ill.) finishing second in the triple-jump with a mark of 41-0.5 that would have been a program record if not for a healthy tailwind.

“Kayla [Bell] looked amazing, and it was another great performance by her,” Kaiser-Brown said. “You rarely see someone consistently jump at that mark and she's done that in turning over a new competitive leaf recently.”

In the men's long jump, Johnathan Osifuye (Woodbury, Minn.) was third with a jump of 22-11.25 a day after winning the triple jump.

On the oval, Danyelle Cole (Kansas City, Kan.) led the sprinters by winning the 200 meters in 24.99 and taking second in the 100 meters with a 12.29 finish. Rai Ahmed-Green (Irvine, Calif.) finished right behind Cole in both races by turning in a time of 25.37 in the 200 meters and 12.68 in the 100 meters. Demetrius Shelton (Markham, Ill.) was third in the men's 100 meters in 11.01.

Emma Huston (Des Moines, Iowa) paced the Bulldogs' distance runners in the 1,500 meters with a third-place finish of 4:30.47 to better her previous personal best by more than 10 seconds.

“Emma was aggressive, got in the front pack, stayed there and fought to the finish which is good to see from her.” Kaiser-Brown added.