How to split listing records

I'm having trouble figuring out how to list half of the records in one div and the other half in another div, sorted by the dragSortOrder. I have the basics working, but I'm using 'num' to get at the records and as a result it's not using the drag order sort. Here's the code I have now for that:
list($practice_areasRecords, $practice_areasMetaData) = getRecords(array(
'tableName' => 'practice_areas',
'loadUploads' => '0',
'allowSearch' => '0',
));

// Get number of records to use below when displaying in columns
$count = $practice_areasMetaData['totalRecords'];
$half = $count/2;
$firsthalf = ceil($count/2);

Later on the page I show the records:

<div class="firstColumn">
<ul>
<?php
$desired_num = $firsthalf; // Show the first half of the records
foreach ($practice_areasRecords as $record):
if ($record['num'] <= $desired_num ) {
?>
<li><a href="<?php echo $record['_link'] ?>"><?php echo $record['title'] ?></a></li>
<?php
}
endforeach;
?>
<?php if (!$practice_areasRecords): ?>
<li>No records were found!</li>
<?php endif ?>
</ul>
</div>

<div class="secondColumn">
<ul>
<?php
$desired_num = $firsthalf; // Use to show the rest of the records
foreach ($practice_areasRecords as $record):
if ($record['num'] > $desired_num ) {
?>
<li><a href="<?php echo $record['_link'] ?>"><?php echo $record['title'] ?></a></li>
<?php
}
endforeach;
?>
<?php if (!$practice_areasRecords): ?>
<li>No records were found!</li>
<?php endif ?>
</ul>
</div>

What I'd like to do is query the database and get all the records, get the total count, and then show the first half in the first column and the rest in the second column using some sort of counter so I can be sure to use the dragSortOrder and not the 'num' order. Any examples of doing this? Thanks.