Brian Brown, director of the Drake Relays

Ever wonder what it takes to organize one of the nation’s largest track and field events?

Now’s your chance to ask Brian Brown, director of the Drake Relays, anything you’ve ever wanted to know about this 103-year-old tradition (or Mr. Brown’s lead role in organizing it).

The Relays drew 43,000 attendees last year and always attracts some of the nation’s top collegiate, elite and high school athletes. The festivities (which run April 26-28 this year) also include an open-invitation mile run in downtown Des Moines, pole vaulting inside a West Des Moines mall, and many other traditions.

Brown was named 11th director of the Drake Relays in 2006. He holds the Drake Relays special invitational high jump record of 7′-7”.

Post your questions in the comment box below, or e-mail them to aaron.jaco@drake.edu — be sure to include your name and affiliation to Drake.

Traveling might get you in trouble on the court, but a journey of more than 2,000 miles will land the Drake men’s basketball team in paradise.

This November, the Bulldogs will take part in the 12th Annual Paradise Jam tournament, hosted by the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas.

“We are excited about the opportunity to participate in this very prestigious event,” says Mark Phelps, men’s basketball head coach. “The Paradise Jam has a rich tradition of outstanding teams and terrific games, and the tournament will allow us to experience some early-season tests against high-level competition.”

The Drake men's basketball team will compete in the 2011 Paradise Jam Tournament competition.

The Bulldogs will compete against top programs from around the country and well outside of the Missouri Valley Conference, including Marquette University, Drexel University, the University of Mississippi, Texas Christian University, the University of Virginia, Winthrop University and Norfolk State University.

Drake will open tournament play on Friday, Nov. 18, against Mississippi. The teams will play at the state-of-the-art University of the Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas.

For more information on the Paradise Jam tournament, including travel packages available for fans, visit http://www.paradisejam.com/.

Stan Johnson joins Drake's athletics staff as an assistant coach for the men’s basketball team.

Stan Johnson recently joined Drake University’s athletics staff as an assistant coach for the men’s basketball program.

“I am excited to welcome Stan to the Drake family,” says Mark Phelps, head coach of the team. “He is a man of character and integrity with outstanding experience as a high-level recruiter and on-floor coach, and he shares our philosophy that making the players the most important part of our program is the primary goal.”

Johnson, who previously served as an assistant coach at the University of Utah, brings eight years of experience to his new position with the Bulldogs.

“I was really impressed with the vision of Athletics Director Sandy Hatfield Clubb and the direction of Coach Phelps with his program,” Johnson says. “The eagerness of the staff at Drake and the character and talent of the guys within the program is amazing to me. Drake is a big-time place, and I’m excited about the big-time things we can accomplish with Drake basketball.”

Johnson, who earned his bachelor’s degree from Southern Utah University, has also served on the coaching staffs at California State University in Northridge, Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., and at Bemidji State University in Minnesota.

Drake women’s basketball team welcomes two new staff members

Kirk Crawford, a veteran trainer with more than 30 years of coaching experience, will join the Drake women’s basketball team as an assistant coach. His main duties will include player development, recruiting and opponent scouting.

“We’re excited to have Coach Crawford join our staff,” says Amy Stephens, head coach. “He brings a wealth of experience from institutions of similar stature.”

Crawford previously held coaching positions at Providence College and the University of Southern Mississippi. He has also served on the staff for the Air Force basketball program and as a volunteer assistant for the WNBA’s Portland Fire.

The Drake women’s basketball team has also added Gerrett Spears to its staff, naming him coordinator of basketball operations in June.

Spears previously worked at Wichita State where he was responsible for all video production and assisted with the team’s day-to-day office operations. He earned a master’s degree from Wichita State in May.

“Coach Spears brings familiarity of the Missouri Valley Conference and will expand what our staff is capable of from a technology standpoint,” Stephens says. “He will be an asset to our staff right away.”

Volunteer assistant coach added to men’s soccer team staff

Sean Holmes, head men’s soccer coach, announced the addition of Kyle Smith to the program’s staff earlier this summer. Smith will serve as a volunteer assistant coach.

“I think that Kyle will bring a great amount of youth, energy and enthusiasm to the program,” Holmes says. “He has a strong background as a player and as a young coach.”

Smith comes to Drake after serving as an assistant coach with the women’s soccer team at Hastings College in Nebraska.

In June, the All-Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) bestowed four Drake University students with Track and Field Scholar-Athlete honors at the league’s annual awards presentation.

Jon DeGrave, from Lake Villa, Ill., is a junior finance major with a 3.63 GPA. This marks the second consecutive year he has earned scholar-athlete honors from the league.

Dan Karys, a sophomore accounting and business major from Bartlett, Ill., has competed for the Bulldogs in the long jump and triple jump, and has run on numerous relay teams. He holds a 3.21 GPA.

Kara McCartney, of Elgin, Iowa, is a senior marketing major with a 3.6 GPA. This is the second scholar-athlete selection of her collegiate career. McCartney is also a two-time recipient of the MVC Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award.

Casey McDermott, a senior psychology major with a 3.47 GPA, is a three-time track scholar-athlete and two-time cross country scholar-athlete. Originally from Newton, Iowa, McDermott is Drake’s record holder in the steeplechase.

Three over par

The National Golf Coaches Association named three Drake students to the All-American Scholar Division I Team in July. Recipients of the honor must have at least a 3.50 GPA.

Hadley Jennings, a first-year business major from Trenton, Mo., registered an 83.7 stroke average this past season for the Bulldogs. She has a 3.75 GPA.

Michelle Mathwick, a senior accounting and marketing major with a 3.92 GPA, is a three-time member of the NGCA All-American Scholar team. Mathwick, of Greenfield, Wis., scored a stroke average of 78.3 this year.

Kaitlyn Mauk, a senior marketing major from West Des Moines, Iowa, has a 3.89 GPA. She completed her senior campaign with an 81.3 stroke average.

The NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Drake showcased exemplary athleticism.

The nation’s top college track and field athletes — and 29,377 fans — gathered at Drake Stadium for the 2011 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in June.

Nine Drake Stadium records and two NCAA collegiate and meet records were broken during the four-day championships. Texas A&M University swept both the men’s and women’s team competitions, claiming the titles for the third consecutive year.

View a photo gallery of the championships online.

Since a $15 million stadium renovation five years ago, Drake has solidified its reputation as one of the best track and field venues in the United States.

The University hosted the 2008 NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships, the 2009 AAU National Junior Olympics Track and Field Championships and the 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Drake Stadium will host the NCAA Track and Field Championships again in 2012.

Drake University Bulldogs triumph in the Global Kilimanjaro Bowl, but the success went beyond a football game

American football crossed a new international border on May 21 when the Drake University Bulldogs and CONADEIP All-Stars from Mexico met on the first-ever gridiron painted on African soil.

Drake triumphed in the matchup against a team of Mexican all-stars.

Thanks to a second-half comeback, Drake beat the All-Stars 17 to 7 in the Global Kilimanjaro Bowl, the first American football game played on the African Continent. The event, presented by the Tanzania National Parks Association and attended by more than 11,500 enthusiastic Tanzanian spectators at the Sheik Amri Abedi Memorial Stadium.

The game was observed by Alfonso Lenhardt, American ambassador to Tanzania, and Lazaro Nyalandu, the nation’s deputy minister of industry and trade, and a procession of dignitaries.Masai tribesmen entertained the crowd where cheerleaders would have danced in an American stadium.

The game also featured a halftime show of touch football by groups of local youngsters.

Bigger than football

“This game was the realization of a dream of many people and we are humbled to have not only brought a football game to Africa, but also to have created friendships that will last a lifetime,” says Patrick Steenberge, event producer and Global Football President. “In sport there has to be one team that loses, but today every single person in this stadium was a winner, I have no doubt about that.”

The Kilibowl

Chris Creighton, Drake head football coach, expressed his approval for the team’s performance and sportsmanship and emphasized the significance of the game.

“I’m so proud of you guys, each and every one of you, on so many levels,” Creighton said. “This is so much bigger than a football game and it was phenomenal. Do not let this moment and what we just did slip away from you.”

Service, a climb and camaraderie

The players from Drake and CONADEIP — 110 in total — continued to work together the week following the game to build an addition to an orphanage and complete other community services projects. On May 25, both teams embarked on a climb to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro — the highest point in Africa at 19,341 feet.

Seventy of 74 members of Drake’s climbing party, including Drake University President David Maxwell, reached the summit. Maxwell kept a blog, titled “Peak Performance,” during the trip.

“A number of the players had tears in their eyes as they stood at the summit, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the experience and the view in front of them,” Maxwell wrote.

The Drake and Mexican teams, staff and alumni pose before setting off to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro

Drake created a photo gallery to showcase the game and other activities related to the Global Kilimanjaro Bowl, including youth football clinics conducted by the Bulldogs and their Mexican opponents. The Global Kilimanjaro Bowl Facebook page chronicled events with updates, photos and fan commentary. Sophomore Cameron Good posted original video clips and photos on his website.

Student-athletes from Drake and CONADEIP also attracted press coverage from the Associated Press, with the story reprinted by ESPN, Yahoo!, USA Today, MSNBC and other national news outlets.

Beyond athletics, the Tanzania trip was about global citizenship.

The Drake men’s tennis team wrapped-up the 2010-2011 season at the NCAA Tennis Tournament, held in May at the University of Illinois’ Khan Tennis Center. The Bulldogs were pitted against the 17th-rated Fighting Illini.

“I thought we competed very well today against a talented Illinois team,” said Evan Austin, head men’s tennis coach. “I’m really proud of Drake’s team and the way they fought and competed all year long, and I’m looking forward to continuing to build upon this year’s success.”

Mauricio Ballivian

Mauricio Ballivian, who graduated from Drake in May, and Anis Ghorbel, a junior international business major from Sfax, Tunisia, broke open a two-all tie with five unanswered tallies to assume a 7-2 lead. The triumph allowed Ballivian, who is originally from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to earn fourth place on the all-time victory list at Drake with 194 career wins.

The competition was the final one in the distinguished career of Ballivian, who led Drake to a trio of Missouri Valley Conference regular season titles and a pair of NCAA Tournament berths.

“Mauricio has been such an incredible leader and representative of our team and university, and it has been great to see him reach so many of his goals during his distinguished Drake career,” Austin said.

The tournament concluded Drake’s season at 21-3 and represented the team’s fifth NCAA Tournament berth in school history.

On May 31, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) placed the Bulldogs at 62nd in the final ITA national rankings, recognizing the team’s outstanding season.

“It is great to see all the hard work we put in this year culminate with a national ranking in the final ITA poll of the year,” Austin said. “This group has come a long way in my first season here and I’m excited about the solid core we have returning in the fall. We plan on continuing to raise the bar for this program and know that hard work, dedication and attention to detail will be keys in the offseason to achieving this.”

Cody Schweinefus

Drake University student Cody Schweinefus fired a final-round 75 at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Colorado Men’s Golf Regional held on May 21. He finished in 67th place after the tournament’s final 18 holes.

“It’s a new level of golf,” says Schweinefus, the first Drake men’s golfer to earn a spot in the regional competition since 2006. “To compete against bigger schools is something to look forward to.”

Schweinefus, a senior management major from Decorah, Iowa, was competing for a spot at the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship. He finished in eighth-place on the Colorado National Golf Club Course, a par-72 course stretching 7,753 yards with many elevation changes and water hazards.

In April, Schweinefus claimed medalist honors and earned a spot to the NCAA regional competition by beating a Wichita State University student athlete in a sudden-death playoff at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Golf Championship.

In May, Drake University women’s softball team pitcher Brynne Dordel received CoSIDA-Capital One Academic All-American honors, earning second team accolades and becoming Drake softball’s first Academic All-American since 2004.

Brynne Dordel

Dordel, of Chanhassen, Minn., graduated from the University in May with a degree in accounting. While at Drake, she maintained a perfect 4.00 grade point average.

“This is a great culmination to a great career at Drake,” says women’s softball head coach Rich Calvert. “Brynne sets the mark for what a Drake student-athlete should be.”

The senior earned a host of academic awards this season, including her third-straight first team all-Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete recognition and her second-straight CoSIDA-Capitol One Academic All-District honor.

Additionally, Dordel earned the MVC’s Elite 18 Award, given to the competitor with the highest GPA at each of the league’s 18 championships.

Dordel becomes Drake’s first Academic All-American in any sport since 2009.

Drake hurdler competes on the Blue Oval in the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

Jon DeGrave earned honorable mention All-American honors in the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Drake Stadium on Wednesday. (Watch the race.)

Jon DeGrave

“This is a huge motivation for me,” DeGrave says. “My goal already for next year is to make it back to the national semifinals. Luckily, next year Drake is hosting, and I can use this experience to put down an even better performance.”

A senior finance major from Lake Villa, Ill., DeGrave is a two-time Missouri Valley Conference champion in the 400-meter hurdles.

He earned the right to compete at the championships thanks to his quarterfinal effort in the 400-meter hurdles held in May at the NCAA West Regional in Eugene, Ore.

DeGrave was joined by teammates Brogan Austin, Kevin Harp and Omet Kak at the West Regional competition.

Austin, a sophomore math education major from Boone, Iowa, ran in the semifinals of the 10,000-meter race, placing 36th and finishing with a time of 30:28.59.

Harp competed in the preliminary rounds of the javelin throw. He is a junior business major from Iowa City, Iowa, and Drake’s school record holder for javelin, setting a score of 208 feet and 7 inches at the 102nd running of the Drake Relays.

Kak, a sophomore biology and secondary education major from Des Moines, came in 41st in the preliminary round of the 1500-meter race, clocking in at 3:51.87.

The NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held through June 11 at Drake. Read more about the championships online.

Tickets for the meet are on sale now. Single day tickets for Thursday are $20; for Friday and Saturday, they are $30. All-session tickets are $85. Order them online.