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 senior Leyden Tolhurst won the 800 and 1,500-meter runs to highlight action for the Drake men's track and field team. Tolhurst was clocked in 3 minutes 54.02 to win the 1,500 and came back three hours later to run a personal best of 1:53.71 in the 800.  Then junior Kevin Earl was fourth in the 800 in 1:55.14.

Drake also captured the 4x100 relay in 41.52 behind junior Josh Bangert, senior Marcus Gaines, freshman Shaun James and junior Anthony Pettaway. Bangert was second in the men's long jump at 23 feet four inches, while placing third in the 100 in 11.23. Gaines was second in 200 in 21.96  and third in the long jump at 23-3.5. Then junior Troy Kimberlin was second in the 400 in 49.27.  Jeff Grassmeyer was fourth in the 1,500 in 3:56.26.

JAMES RECORDS MVC'S TOP TIMES IN 100, 200: Sophomore Shaun James captured both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes as the Drake men's track and field team won four events Saturday at the Tom Botts Invitational in Columbia, Mo.

James posted winning times of 10.87 seconds and 21.72 seconds in the 100 and 200, respectively, which are the fastest in the Missouri Valley Conference this spring.

Freshman Dan Karys (Bartlett, Ill.) won the triple jump soaring a personal best 45 feet 9.75 inches, with junior teammate AJ Fajimolu (Jos, Nigeria) second at 44-7.5. Senior Troy Kimberlin (Rochester, Ill.) captured the 400 in 49.39 with junior Brandon Lewis (Plymouth, Minn.) fifth in 50.85.

Sophomore Jon DeGrave (Lake Villa, Ill.) was fourth in the 400 hurdles in 53.30. Senior Kevin Earl (Overland Park, Kan.) was sixth in the 800 in 1:55.9. James and Karys ran legs on the 4x100 relay which was fifth in 42.70.

Freshman Kevin Harp (Iowa City, Iowa) was fifth in the javelin at 158-2 and 10th in the shot put at 42-9.5. Freshman Isaac Twombly (Baldwin City, Kan.) was sixth in the hammer throw at 158-6. Senior Jeff Grassmeyer (Fremont, Neb.) was seventh in the 1,500 (4:00.81) and sophomore Charles Lapham (Golden Valley, Minn.) right behind in 4:01.59.

JURYSTA SECOND AT CENTRAL: Sophomore Matt Jurysta (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada) was second in the men's 1,500-meter in 4:09.07 at the Central Invitational last Saturday in Pella, Iowa. Sophomore Derek Campbell (Sycamore, Ill.) was third in the men's 5,000 in 16:13.19, while junior Adam Oestreich (Bettendorf, Iowa) was fourth in the 5,000 in 16:24.80. Drake freshman Alex Etgeton (Sumner, Iowa) was seventh in the men's 400 in 53.67.