DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University track and field team was back in action at home for the 2026 Jim Duncan Invitational at historic Drake Stadium. The Bulldogs posted a handful of first place finishes including three among the women's throwing group.
Maud Visscher headlined the field event effort with wins in two different events. Visscher took top honors in the shot put with a heave of 14.31m/46-11.5 and won the discus after tossing 48.34m/158-7. Visscher also took third in the hammer throw with a mark of 53.68m/176-1.
Ava Graham had a solid day of her own behind Visscher in two of those throwing contests. She took fourth in the women's discus (44.00m/144-4) and sixth in the women's shot put (12.76m/41.10.5).
Veteran throwers
Centaine Noom-Duckworth and
Chinemerem Iwuagwu stood out in the hammer throw, taking the top two placements. Noom-Duckworth tossed 59.30m/194-7 for the win while Iwuagwu, competing unattached, threw 57.31m/188-0.
Owen Spira added a throwing win on the men's side with a hammer throw of 61.37m/201-4.
Sam Carpenter (unattached) took third in the same event at 59.79m/196-2 while
Adam Phillips was fourth with a toss of 59.21m/194-3.
Reigning Missouri Valley Conference Men's Field Athlete of the Week
Cooper Cerese was runner-up in the men's shot put after launching 17.90m/58-8.75.
The Bulldog men had a pair of titles on the track.
Daghyn True won the 5k with a time of 14:41.44 while Drake also won the 4x100 relay.
Garrett Frizell,
Josiah Rainey, Matthew Chandler, and
Xavier Baldwin combined their talents for a winning time of 42.64.
Breanna Burak led the Drake women's distance cadre with a runner-up finish of 17:33.39. Other 5000m finishers included men's runner
Jed Wilson (15:06.88) and women's competitor
Amilia Condon (17:48.97), both in fifth.
The Bulldogs showcased three other relay teams, all of which earned at least top five honors. The Men's 4x400 team of
Carter Beasley,
Dylan DeAngelo,
Berkley Munnings, and Drake Dombrowsky took second in 3:16.11.
Denae McElrath,
Givedy Gelin,
Emily Heitzman, and
Marieli Estrello combined for third in the women's 4x100 with a time of 48 seconds flat. Estrello, McElrath, Emmaline Nau, and
Avery Littlejohn put together another successful relay race in the 4x400 to earn fifth in 3:59.51.
Estrello added a 12.10 100m time, good enough for third. Nau was sixth in the women's 400m hurdles with a pace of 1:05.06.
Beasley, DeAngelo, and Dombrowsky had individual success with placements of fourth in the men's 800 (1:49.65), fourth in the men's 400m hurdles (54.38), and sixth in the men's 400 (48.42), respectively.
Drake had two other top-6 finishers in
Lanse Larsen and
Ella Brown. Larsen ran 3:56.16 in the men's 1500 while Brown crossed the line in 2:13.06 as part of the women's 800 lineup.
Drake will next head to Lincoln, Nebraska for the Big Red Classic from April 17-18 before returning to Drake Stadium for the 116th running of the Drake Relays from April 22-25.
