PEORIA, ILL. --  Returning to action for the first time in two weeks, a young Drake men's cross country team finished seventh in the 21-team Bradley Classic Friday at the Newman Golf Course.

Freshman transfer Omet Kak (Des Moines, Iowa) led the Bulldogs by placing 14th overall out of 211 runners. He covered the 8,000-meter course in 24 minutes 42 seconds. DePaul's Matthew Graham won the meet in 23:37.

Drake freshman Brogan Austin (Boone, Iowa), a former three-time Iowa prep state champion, was 22nd in 24:51.

Drake junior Ben Jaskowiak (Madison, Wis.) was 55th in 25:30, while sophomore transfer Tim Cornish (Wellington, New Zealand) placed 57th in 25:35.

Drake junior Charlie Lapham (Golden Valley, Minn.) was 66th in 25:40, while Drake freshman Doug Brady (Englewood, Colo.) was 68th in 25:43.

"It was a solid team performance with lots of personal bests today," said Drake cross country coach Dan Hostager. "So many of our young runners keep getting better every race."

It marked the final tune-up for the Bulldogs prior to the Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championship Oct. 30 in Wichita, Kan.

"We will really need to improve on our times in the next couple weeks leading up to the conference meet," Hostager warned.

BRADLEY CLASSIC
At Peoria, Ill.

Team Scoring
1. Iowa 67; 2. Southern Illinois 105; 3. Iowa State 143; 4, Illinois B 165; 5. Northern Iowa 168;  6. Missouri 193; 7. DRAKE 214; 8. Illinois State 223;  9. Southeast Missouri State 242; 10 DePaul 266; 11. Illinois-Chicago 267; 12. Loyola-Chicago 335; 13. Eastern Illinois 356; 14. Wisconsin-Milwaukee 356; 15. Bradley 383; 16. UMKC 439; 17. South Dakota State 441; 18. Saint Louis 445; 19. SIU Edwardsville 511; 20. Western Illinois 511;  21. Wisconsin-Green Bay 678.

Individual winner  (8,000 meters) -  1. Matthew Graham, DePaul,  23:37.

Drake Results -- 14. Omet Kak, 24:42; 22. Brogan Austin, 24:51;  55. Ben Jaskowiak, 25:30; 57. Tim Cornish, 25:35; 66. Charlie Lapham, 25:40; 68. Doug Brady, 25:43; 69, Mike Bumgarner, 25:43; 78. Ryan Flynn, 25:48; 98. Derek Campbell, 26:02; 109. Mike Rodriguez, 26:10; 139. Matt Jurysta, 26:37; 140. Luke Schafer, 26:37; 142. Colin Coomer, 26:40; 154. Brandon Lewis, 26:58; 155. Matt Eckman, 26:59; 180. Josh Buschling, 27;43; 183. Steve Bruxvoort, 27:44; 203. Matt Godkin, 29:23.