TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Drake track and field boasted another trio of Missouri Valley Conference champions as the league meet concluded on Sunday.
 
Cooper Cerese finished atop the men's shot put podium with a best effort of 19.10m/62-8, good enough to launch him into the NCAA top 25. Maud Visscher had another NCAA top 25 mark on the women's side with a 16.73m/54-10.75 heave in the women's shot put. On the track Brenden Heitzig added another running title with a 14:15.77 time in the men's 5k.
 
Heitzig and Visscher both doubled their hardware in the men's 1500 and women's discus, respectively. Heitzig paced 3:48.25 to take silver in the 1500 while Visscher threw 49.09m/161-0 for her third-place result.
 
Ethan Elliott had another runner-up placement for the Dogs as he finished just behind Cerese in the shot put at 18.90m/62-0.25.
 
Dylan DeAngelo had the only other podium finish in the men's 400m hurdles with a third-place time of 52.93. Berkley Munnings was fifth in the same field with a time of 54.57.
 
Other top five finishers included Daniel Rotich, who was third in Saturday's 10k, with a 14:49.51 5000m run, and a pair of relay teams. The men's combo of Garrett Frizell, Drake Dombrosky, Xavier Baldwin, and Josiah Rainey were fifth in the 4x100 at 42.59. Drake's women's 4x100 squadron of Favor Omoijuanfo, Denae McElrath, Emily Heitzman, and Marieli Estrello earned the same result with a time of 57.58.
 
Bulldog field event standouts also included Harrison McGregor's sixth-place discus heave of 51.60m/169-03 and Ava Graham's discus mark of 45.39m/148-11
 
Each of Drake's 4x400 relay teams finished inside the top eight. The men's crew of DeAngelo, Dombrosky, Munnings, and Carter Beasley were seventh in 3:19.68 while McElrath, Ella Brown, Emma Nau, and Avery Littlejohn were eighth in 3:59.07.
 
Rainey posted a pair of solid sprinting results with a seventh-place mark of 10.38 in the 100m dash and eighth-place run of 21.09 in the 200. Beasley was also sixth in the men's 800 with an impressive time of 1:50.17.
 
Aidan Simon rounded out Drake's top 10 finishers with a ninth-place 1500m run, which he did in 3:57.11.
 
After competition concluded, Drake's Owen Spira, who was one of two Bulldogs on the men's hammer throw podium with an individual title on Saturday, was named one of three MVC Men's Freshmen of the Year for his remarkable rookie efforts.
 
The entire list of 2026 MVC Outdoor Track and Field award winners is below.
 
Men's Team Champions: Illinois State
Women's Team Champions: Indiana State
Men's MVP: Carter Morton, UNI
Women's MVP: Joey Perry, UNI
Men's Most Outstanding Track Athlete: Jamie Phillips, Bradley
Women's Most Outstanding Track Athlete: Rachel Mehringer, Indiana State
Men's Most Outstanding Field Athlete: Carter Morton, UNI
Women's Most Outstanding Field Athlete: Emma Yoder, Indiana State
Men's Freshmen of the Year: Owen Spira, Drake; Voldy Makaby, Illinois State; Aaron Massiah, Indiana State
Women's Freshman of the Year: Emma Randecker, UNI
Men's Elite 18 Award Winner: David Russell, UNI
Women's Elite 18 Award Winner: Olivia Marshall, Indiana State