WHAT'S AHEAD: The Drake men's cross country team will resume action competing at the sixth annual Bradley Classic this Friday at the Newman Golf Course in Peoria, Ill., The 8,000-meter race will start at 4:15 p.m.
LAST YEAR: Drake placed third in the 12-team Bradley Classic last year. Then senior Leyden Tolhurst led Drake with a seventh-place finish in the 8,000-meter race in 25 minutes 30 seconds. One-hundred and thirteen runners competed in the meet.
Drake tallied 112 points recording the highest finish of any MVC team to place ahead of Northern Iowa (eighth), Illinois State (tenth) and Bradley (12th) as well as defending team champion Missouri (seventh).
A LOOK BACK: Drake senior Jeff Grassmeyer (Fremont, Neb.) finished fifth out of 408 runners at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational men's cross country meet in Chicago, Ill., Oct. 3. Grassmeyer was clocked in 25 minutes 10 seconds for the 8,000-meter course matching his previous personal best in the event.
Drake junior Mike Bumgarner (Rosemount, Minn.) placed 42nd in 26:15, while sophomore Colin Hagan (Wichita, Kan.) was 52nd in 26:32. Drake placed ninth n the 28-team men's division, tallying 252 points. Miami of Ohio won the team championship with 62 points.
MVC SCHOLAR ATHLETE OF WEEK: Drake senior Jeff Grassmeyer was selected as a Prairie Farms/Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week, for his performance during the period of Sept. 28-Oct. 4.
Now in its 11th year of existence, The Valley's Scholar-Athlete program is sponsored by Prairie Farms, Roberts and Hiland Dairies. On a weekly basis, the Conference honors its student-athletes for their athletic performance for a one-week period and academic success in the classroom.
Grassmeyer, placed fifth in the 2009 Loyola Lakefront Invitational in Chicago, Ill. Grassmeyer, who has a 3.61 cumulative grade-point average in secondary education, tied his personal best for an 8,000-meter course with a time of 25:10 against the 408-participant field.
GRASSMEYER HONORED: Drake senior Jeff Grassmeyer was named the Missouri Valley Conference athlete of the week Sept. 21 in men's cross country. Grassmeyer was the top MVC finisher at the Roy Griak Invitational in Falcon Heights, Minn., Sept. 26, finishing 31st out of 167 runners.
