“I kneeled down and said a little prayer to thank the Lord for blessing me with so many talents, blessing me with putting me here at this school,” Cook said. “I said 'Lord if I get this, I get it, if I don't, hey it wasn't in your plan.'”

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The original competition ended with Cook tied for fourth; however an error was discovered that allowed Cook to receive a make-up jump two hours after competition had ended. Cook shook off the distraction and cleared the bar on his final attempt at 6-8. After again missing his first two attempts at 6-9.50, he passed the bar as the entire home crowd roared with delight over the MVC Championship.

 “It was amazing. I'm so blessed to be at a school like Drake University in the first place and just to be able to jump here under Coach Brian Brown,” Cook said. “I was blessed to get another attempt at 6-8. It's an awesome feeling, it's something I can't explain at all. It's amazing.”

“I'm proud of him and it was the right thing to do to give him that attempt and he made the most of it,” Drake jumps coach Brian Brown said.

Brown also gave Cook critical instruction before his final attempt at 6-8.

“Right as he was preparing for what I think is an unusual situation in terms of his one attempt, I met him on the infield and told him 'you know you can clear this right?'” Brown said. “He went in, put the foot down and cleared it. Not only did he clear it, but he cleared the next one too, which gave him the win.”

With the epic win Cook became the first Bulldog to win the men's high jump since the great Paul Allard completed the feat in 1977.

In addition to Cook's exciting win, the Bulldogs had five athletes qualify for finals in events to be run Sunday night.

Sophomore Steven Jordan (McFarland, Wis.) had an exciting day in qualifying for the finals in the 200 meters, finishing seventh in 21.86. Jordan just missed the finals of the 400 meters by finishing ninth, crossing the line in 48.74.

Junior Brett Wright (Longmont, Colo.) did qualify for the finals in the 400 meters, finishing seventh in 48.48.

In the long jump, defending champion senior Dan Karys (Bartlett, Ill.), was unable to retain his title. He leaped to a distance of 23-2 on his final attempt to place sixth.

Friday also saw the return of junior Omet Kak (Des Moines, Iowa) to Jim Duncan Track. Kak easily won his heat in the 800 meters and recorded the second-best qualifying time in 1:54.36. Freshman James Saxton (La Crosse, Wis.) also qualified for the finals in 1:56.16.

The team's freshmen also performed well in their first outdoor championship meet as Scott Goad (Dixon, Ill.) was 10th in the high jump, passing 6-4 on his second attempt. Goad had jumped past that height twice this season, but was unable to clear the next height at 6-6.

Freshman Kai Asberry (Carrollton, Texas) represented the Bulldogs in the 100 meters for the first time this season, clocking in at 10.88 to finish tenth. He missed out on the finals in the 400-meter hurdles by .05 of a second after running a personal best time of 54.67.

Freshman Rob McCann (Mississauga, Ontario) had another great showing in the 3,000 steeplechase. He set a personal best by running 9:01.56 and finishing in third. Junior Ryan Flynn (Bettendorf, Iowa) was 11th in 10:15.50.

Junior Travis Marsh (Ankeny, Iowa) qualified in the 400-meter hurdles, placing fourth in 53.27. He was ninth in the 110-meter hurdles in 14.64, just missing out on a slot in the finals.

After two days of competition Drake is in fourth place in the team standings with 33 points. Wichita State leads the meet with 88 points and Southern Illinois is second with 78.

Events at Drake Stadium will begin at noon Sunday with the women's triple jump on the final day of competition. The national anthem will be at 12:55 and events on the track will begin at 1 p.m. with the women's 4x100-meter relay.

2013 MVC Outdoor Championships
Team Results
1. Wichita State, 88
2. Southern Illinois, 78
3. Indiana State, 60
4. Drake, 33
5. Northern Iowa, 26
6. Illinois State, 20
7. Bradley, 7

Drake Results
Men's Individual Results
100 Meters
10. Kai Asberry, 10.88

200 Meters
7. Steven Jordan, 21.86q

400 Meters
7. Brett Wright, 48.48q
9. Steven Jordan, 48.74

800 Meters
2. Omet Kak, 1:54.36q
6. James Saxton, 1:56.16q
17. Zachary Elkins, 1:58.26

110-meter Hurdles
9. Travis Marsh, 14.64

400-meter Hurdles
4. Travis Marsh, 53.27q
9. Kai Asberry, 54.67
11. Julian Todd-Borden, 55.19

3,000-meter Steeplechase
3. Rob McCann, 9:01.56, 6 points
11. Ryan Flynn, 10:15.50

Long Jump
6. Dan Karys, 23-2

High Jump
1. Ryan Cook, 6-9.75, 10 points
10. Scott Goad, 6-4