SENIOR RUNNER CAITLIN ABLE rounds the turn during last spring’s outdoor season. Track and field athletes will return to Iowa State for the third time this season Feb. 11. FILE PHOTO

Led by strong performances in the mile by senior Jeff Grassmeyer and junior Casey McDermott, the Drake track and field teams delivered a solid showing at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational this weekend in Lincoln, Neb.

The meet, hosted by the University of Nebraska, featured a strong field including schools like Nebraska and Kansas. Head Coach Natasha Brown said the meet was a big step for both teams as they progress through the indoor season.

“Today was a great day,” Brown said. “We had some major breakthrough performances.”

McDermott finished third in the women’s 1,600-meter run, clocking in at 4 minutes, 58.17 seconds. Junior Katie Coomer finished in 12th with a time of 5:16.96.

Grassmeyer’s 4:11.28 was good enough for fourth in the men’s mile. Sophomore Colin Hagan was close behind, finishing in eighth place at 4:19.42.

“Casey McDermott was third in the mile and Grassmeyer raced well with a 4:11 mile,” Brown said. “These were the types of performances we hoped would happen.”

As is common during the indoor season, the teams had to adjust to the track.

“Nebraska’s track has banked curves, making it fast,” Brown said. “Our team was able to adjust to the curves and compete well.”

The mile was not the only event that Bulldog runners were competitive in. Junior Clarrisa LaFlora finished 11th in the women’s 600-yard run, with 1:28.42.

The Bulldogs were particularly successful in the 800-meter run. Junior Kara McCartney finished fifth in the women’s race, with a time of 2:16.02. Brown said that her time was five seconds faster than her last race.

Senior Kevin Earl and Sophomore Charlie Lapham starred for the men, finishing sixth and 10th in the 800, respectively. Earl finished at 1:55.52 and Lapham finished in 1:56.02. Brown noted that both times were improvements for the runners.

Junior Brandon Lewis finished 10th in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:37.40.

While much of the Bulldogs’ success was in distance, there were several sprint and field performances that stood out.

Junior Tyse Samani, Drake’s top high jumper, finished fifth in the women’s high jump with a height of 5 feet, 7 inches. Samani jumped 5 feet, 5 inches last week, and Brown predicted that she would add those two inches in this weekend’s meet.

Senior Anthony Pettaway turned in Drake’s best performance in sprinting, finishing 15th in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.38 seconds.

Next up for Drake is the Iowa State Classic in Ames. The meet starts on Thursday and concludes with a full day of action on Saturday.

“It’s a pretty intense meet with great competition,” Brown said.

The indoor schedule concludes later this month with the MVC Indoor Championships in Cedar Falls.