Lewis and Lewis win titles on last day of league track meet
DECORAH — An impressive indoor season continued for brothers Brock and Drake Lewis (sophomores, Lathrop, Mo.) as the Central College men’s track and field athletes both won individual titles at the American Rivers Conference Championships Saturday.
The Dutch finished fifth in the team standings with 81 points, Loras College grabbed the crown with 141 points.
Drake Lewis had his best high jump performance of the year with a winning leap of 6 feet, 10.25 inches. He took attempts at 7-0.25 and narrowly missed.
“He was actually over the bar at 7-0.25 but hit it with hips on the first attempt,” Sturman said. “He had the whole field house clapping and everyone was paying attention to him. It was a really awesome environment.”
In his first high jump competition of the season after playing basketball, freshman Sam Beatty (Mount Pleasant) finished third with a clearance of 6-6.75.
“We knew Sam was going to be good but he really did his thing,” Sturman said. “Coming off of basketball and already hitting a lifetime best is really exciting.”
Brock Lewis had a new personal-best triple jump of 46-8.25 and earned his first conference title
“I think he had a little fire under him after getting beat in the long jump yesterday on his last attempt,” Sturman said. “He wanted to prove a point today and I think he did that.”
All four members of the 4×800-meter relay squad earned all-conference recognition by finishing in 7 minutes, 58.99 seconds and third place. The quartet of Preston Kizer (senior, Dubuque), Adam Sylvia (freshman, Rochester, Mass., Old Rochester Regional HS), Will DeHaan (sophomore, DeWitt, Central DeWitt HS) and Jack Sagan (sophomore, Riverside, Ill., Riverside-Brookfield HS) received the recognition.
DeHaan (1:54.99) and Kizer (1:55.27) also finished third and fourth in the 800 meters.
“Those guys all ran hard,” Sturman said. “We talked all year about them being a huge asset for us and they took advantage of the opportunities.”
Lucas Heitz (freshman, Adel, ADM HS) and Nick Thompson (sophomore, Newhall, Benton HS) were fourth (4,332 points) and seventh (3,881 points) in the heptathlon. Jonathan Bossou (freshman, Ottumwa) was fifth in the 55-meter hurdles (8.04 seconds).
In the final event of the weekend, Cory Suedmeier (senior, Ankeny Centennial HS), Danny Devenuto (sophomore, Plainfield, Ill., North HS), Grant Boyse (freshman, Wellman, Mid-Prairie HS) and Carter Tryon (sophomore, Winterset) were sixth in the 4×400-meter relay in 3:26.77
Central will send a few athletes to the Wartburg Final Qualifier next Friday and Saturday in Waverly.
