The Drake University men's and women's track and field teams head to Columbia, Mo., this week for the Missouri Invitational, hosted by the University of Missouri. Competition for the one-day meet begins Friday at 2 p.m. with field events and continues with running events slated to start at 3 p.m. in the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse with a rolling schedule used throughout the afternoon.
In addition to the host, Missouri, the Bulldogs will compete against teams from Missouri State, Western Illinois, SIU Edwardsville and a slew of other programs from across the Midwest.
The Bulldogs head to Missouri after last weekend's Holiday Inn Invite that saw strong early season performances from the Bulldogs including some that earned
Rai Ahmed-Green (Irvine, Calif.) MVC Female Track Athlete of the Week honors.
The junior finished first in the women's 400 meters with a time of 56.50 and also placed third in the 200 meters with a 25.14 finish and will aim to improve on both of those near-personal best times this weekend. As the leadoff leg of the 4x400-meter relay, she helped run the Bulldogs into a second-place finish with a time of 3:50.61, the seventh-fastest time in school history.
Both rosters laid down strong performances to open the season that they will be looking to build upon. In her first competition of 2017, junior
Mary Young (Urbandale, Iowa) equaled her personal best in the 60-meter hurdles to win in 8.49. All-MVC competitor
Bas Van Leersum (Zandaam, The Netherlands) also started his season ahead of schedule with a 48.29 performance in the 400 meters last weekend. Young is set to compete in the hurdles and 200 meters at the Tiger Invite while Van Leersum will step into the blocks in the 200 and 400 meters.
Both
Reed Fischer (Minnetonka, Minn.) and
Bailee Cofer (Overland Park, Kan.) will have this weekend off from competition after opening their season in fine fashion with Fischer clocking a personal best in the mile and Cofer winning the 3,000 meters last weekend.
After the Tiger Invite, the Bulldogs head to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to compete in the Jack Jennette and Mark Messersmith Invitationals Jan. 27-28.
