Junior Dan Karys and sophomore Alex Kaster, who won the long and triple jumps, respectively, last Friday at the Iowa Invitational in Iowa City, led the Drake track and field teams.

The team traveled with 17 athletes on the men’s side and 21 on the women’s side. Both squads placed six athletes each in the top eight in their respective events.

The Iowa Invitational was thelast meet before the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, and it featured schools such as Iowa, Northern Iowa and Western Illinois.

Karys soared a distance of 22 feet, 11 inches en route to his title in the long jump.

Karys also managed to finish in second place in the triple jump. He finished behind his teammate Kaster, who leaped 56 feet, 10.75 inches.

Junior Marissa Smith stepped outside of her comfort zone sprinting in the 200-meter dash, and she was rewarded with a second-place finish with a time of 26.38 seconds. Smith commented on her versatility.

“It feels good to do well in another event, especially when you know it will transfer over and help you with your main event,” Smith said.

Freshman Mariel Fulton approached a sub five-minute mile with her fourth-place finish in the one-mile run. Fulton finished in 5:11.68, and she was the only underclassman in that event to finish in the top nine.

In the absence of sophomores Omet Kak and Brogan Austin, senior Matt Jurysta finished in fifth place in the one-mile run with a time of 4:18.04.

Juniors Sarah Yeager and Emily James showed their strut in the 60-meter hurdles with fourth- and fifth-place finishes, respectively. Yeager finished with a time of 9.06 seconds, and James finished with a time of 9.15 seconds.

Both teams are back in action at the State Farm MVC Indoor Track and Field Championships this Saturday and Sunday at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.