Daniels ready to end Central track career on top

Central Dutch Athletics

PELLA — One of the most decorated Central College men’s track and field athletes in history, Will Daniels (junior, Geneseo, Ill.) will try to add a third national championship to his resume this weekend at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Geneva, Ohio.

The Unversity of Mount Union (Ohio) will serve as this year’s host. Competition starts on Thursday morning at 10 a.m. (EST) from the Spire Institute in Geneva.

Daniels is joined at the national meet by men’s high jumper Drake Lewis (sophomore, Lathrop, Mo.), women’s shot putter Emily Burt (junior, Freeport, Ill.) and women’s discus thrower Gillian Streit (sophomore, Manilla, Harlan HS).

A laundry list of accolades for Daniels includes 16 all-conference performances, three individual conference titles, six all-region honors, three regional athlete of the year awards and four All-American performances. He’s making his third trip to the national outdoor meet, finishing third in the decathlon as a sophomore and placing 10th in the high jump as a freshman.

A two-time national champion in the indoor heptathlon, Daniels has his sights set on adding one last national title to his trophy case in the outdoor decathlon this weekend. He’s graduating a year early from Central to pursue his master’s degree in clinical exercise physiology.

In his only decathlon of the season, he scored 7,195 points at the Jim Dutcher Memorial Classic on April 19-20. That score is the No. 8 mark in Division III since 1985 and the best this season. He has one of only three qualifying marks over 7,000 points.

“I think he has a really good mindset right now,” coach Brandon Sturman said. “He’s relaxed and having fun. He needs to focus on him and do what he does best. We know what his potential is but we’ll take it one event at a time.”

Lewis arrived on campus in January as a Dutch men’s basketball team transfer. The 6-8 forward joined the track team in February as a high jumper/hurdler with great success. He placed fifth at the American Rivers Conference Indoor Championships in his first collegiate high jump.

His leap of 6 feet, 9 inches won the conference’s outdoor meet and put him top-20 nationally, gaining him a bid to the national meet. He’s qualified in a tie for 12th.

“We knew this level of success was a possibility for Drake, it just happened a little quicker than we thought,” Sturman said. “He’s got a lot of potential and a promising future. Every time he jumped this season, he got better and hopefully that stays true this weekend.”

Burt qualified 19th for the national meet after reaching 44-4.75 at the Central Invitational on April 5. She recorded a mark over 40 feet in seven of her eight competitions this year.

Streit enters with the No. 21 discus throw mark in the country (145-2). She made that throw on March 30 at the Augustana College (Ill.) Viking Olympics. She threw over 140 feet two other times this year, including last Thursday at the Augustana Twilight Qualifier (143-11).

“They threw both well early in the season and we’ve been working on trying to get back to that point,” Sturman said. “We want them to enjoy the experience and go out there and have fun. They definitely have it in them to hit the same mark and maybe even better.”

Reyna Ta’amu (Redlands {Calif.}) has the nation’s best shot put (48-0.75) and Erica Oawster (Wis.-Eau Claire) has the best discus throw (167-11).

Central College NCAA Championships schedule of events
Thursday, May 23 (times are EST)
10:30 a.m. – men’s decathlon (100-meter dash)
11:15 a.m. – men’s decathlon (long jump)
12:25 p.m. – men’s decathlon (shot put)

12:30 p.m. – women’s discus throw (prelims and final)
1:45 p.m. – men’s decathlon (high jump)

3:40 p.m. – men’s decathlon (400 meters)

Friday, May 24
10 a.m. – men’s decathlon (110-meter hurdles)
10:45 a.m. – men’s decathlon (discus throw)
Noon – men’s decathlon (pole vault)

2 p.m. – men’s high jump (final)

2 p.m. – women’s shot put (prelims and final)
2:45 p.m. – men’s decathlon (javelin throw)

4:30 p.m. – men’s decathlon (1,500-meter run)