DES MOINES, Iowa - The Drake University men's and women's track and field team competed in five running events, highlighted by senior Brogan Austin (Boone, Iowa) finishing second in the men's 10,000 meters Thursday evening at the 2015 Drake Relays by Hy-Vee.
Drake had two athletes compete in the men's 10,000 meter. Austin crossed the finish line with a time of 29:45.17 to finish just behind Wayland Baptist's Benard Keter's first-place time of 29:34.75.
"It was awesome! You can't complain about having fans, especially with track,” Austin said. “You usually don't get that big of a fan base, but Drake knows how to do it.”
Drake's second athlete in the men's 10,000 meters, Connor Wells (Des Moines, Iowa), finished with a time of 30:20.64 to finish in seventh place.
"For the first part when it's pretty packed up, you just want to stay focused and kind of stay up in there, keeping contention,” Wells said of his race. “At about 5k or 6k, things started moving, you have to be more alert and match moves and just dig deep.”
Drake junior Laura Gann (Wheaton, Ill.) competed in the women's unseeded 800 meters, finishing with a time of 2:13.12, good for 13th place. In other individual distance events Krista Maguire (Wausau, Wis.) was 14th in the 5,000 meters in 16:46.25 for a significant personal best. In the men's 5,000 meters Reed Fischer (Minnetonka, Minn.) was ninth in 14:24.24, an 11-second personal best for the sophomore.
The Drake women's 4x1,600-meter relay team of senior Melissa Parks (Norfolk, Neb.) junior Cassie Aerts (David City, Neb.) sophomore Erica Bestul (Apple Valley, Minn.) and freshman Bailee Cofer (Overland Park, Kan.) crossed the finish line with a time of 20:46.03, good for 11th place earlier in the afternoon.
The 2015 Drake Relays presented by Hy-Vee continue with running and field events at Drake Stadium, April 24, at 8 a.m.
Drake Relays
April 23 - Des Moines, Iowa
Women's 800 Meter Run Unseeded UNIV/COL (Final)
13. Laura Gann, 2:13.12
Women's 4x1600 Meter Relay UNIC/COL (Final)
11. Parks, Bestul, Aerts, Cofer, 20:46.03
Men's 10000m Run UNIV/COL Invitational
2. Brogan Austin, 29:45.17
7. Connor Wells, 30:30.64
Women's 5000m Run UNIV/COL
14. Krista Maguire, 16:46.25
Men's 5000m Run UNIV/COL
9. Reed Fischer, 14:24.24
Decathlon
20. Jeffery Foreman, 5,844
