WHAT'S AHEAD:  The Drake men's and women's track and field teams will host the 34th annual Jim Duncan Invitational this Friday and Saturday at Drake Stadium. Nearly 2,000 athletes are expected to compete in the meet which is named in honor of Jim Duncan, a former Drake track letterwinner, who served as the public address announcer for the Drake Relays from 1951 until his death in 1989.

Action starts at 4 p.m. Friday with the men's javelin, men's shot put, and women's discus. Six college/university distance races will be run, capped by the men's 5,000 at 7:35 p.m. Activities start at 8:30 a.m. Saturday with the last race scheduled at 6:17 p.m.

The university and college field includes Bethel, Carlton, Central, Creighton, Graceland, Grand View, Grinnell, Indian Hills, Iowa State, North Dakota, Northern Iowa, St. Olaf, St. Cloud State, Simpson, South Dakota State, Truman State and Wisconsin-Parkside.

STRONG HIGH SCHOOL FIELD: Participating high schools are Ames, Ankeny, Des Moines East, Des Moines Hoover, Des Moines Lincoln, Des Moines North, Des Moines Roosevelt, Dowling Catholic, Indianola, Johnston, Mason City, Southeast Polk, Urbandale, Waukee and West Des Moines Valley.

LAST YEAR: The Drake men's and women's track and field teams combined to win five events in the 2009 Jim Duncan Invitational.

Then Drake sophomore Casey McDermott and junior Nicole Braunsdorf finished first and second, respectively, in the 800 to key action for the Drake women's track and field team. McDermott was timed in 2 minutes 15.14 seconds to clip Braunsdorf who finished in 2:16.45.  Then sophomore Katie Coomer was sixth in 2:18.98.

Then Drake sophomore Michelle Mitchell captured the women's high jump title at five feet seven inches, while then sophomore Tyse Samani tied for fourth at 5-3. Junior Deidra Dirth was second in the discus at 143-6.

CURTIS SETS SCHOOL RECORD:  Running in the first 400-meter hurdle race of her career, junior Ari Curtis (Fort Collins, Colo.) set a school record to highlight action for the Drake women's track and field team last Saturday at the Tom Botts Invitational in Columbia, Mo. Curtis, running out of lane one, posted a winning time of 1:00.00 to better the previous record of 1:00.59 set by Julie Head in 2000.

Drake junior Tyse Samani (Kansas City, Mo.) won the high jump, soaring five feet five inches, while junior teammate Michelle Mitchell (Brookfield, Wis.) was third at 5-3. Curtis also ran the second leg on Drake's 4x100 relay which was third in 48.48 and capped the meet by running the first leg on the 4x400 relay which was fourth in 3:53.14.

Drake had three athletes finish second in their respective events. Freshman Marissa Smith (Ajax, Ontario, Canada) was second in the 100 hurdles in 14.52, while freshman Emily James (Clive, Iowa) was eighth in 15.17. Senior Deidra Dirth (Apple Valley, Minn.) was second in the discus in 150-6, while senior Nicole Braunsdorf (St. Francis, Wis.) was second in the 1,500 in 4:37.96.

Junior Cambria Pardner (Aurora, Colo.) was third in the triple jump at 36-11.75 and fifth in the 100 in 12:56.  Junior Casey McDermott (Newton, Iowa) was fourth in the 1,500 in 4:42.39.  Junior Beth Hamling (Council Bluffs, Iowa) had a busy day. Besides running the first leg on Drake's 4x100 relay, she was fourth in the 400 in 57.19 and 200 in 25.29. She then anchored Drake in the 4x400 relay.

Senior Tara Scieszinski (Albia, Iowa) was fifth in the 3,000, running a personal best of 10:21.93. Junior Molly Scott (Kansas City, Mo.) tied for fifth in the pole vault at 11-1.75, while junior Johanna Sprang (New Brighton, Minn.) tied for eighth at 11-1.75. Freshman Briana Isom-Brummer (St. Louis, Mo.) was sixth in the 400 hurdles (1:05.50), followed by freshman Sarah Yeager (Ottumwa, Iowa) who was seventh in 1:06.74.

FRESHMAN WINS 100 AT CENTRAL: Drake freshman Kelly Hendricks (Prospect Heights, Ill.)  won the women's 100-meter dash in 12.91 seconds at the Central Invitational Saturday. Drake freshman Elle Yesnes (Hopkin. Minn.) was third in the women's 5,000 in 19:31.35, while Drake freshman London James (Adair, Iowa) was fourth in 19:41.91.