Three more wins for Dutch
Central College
GRINNELL—The Central College men’s and women’s track and field squads claimed three more events at the Darren Young Classic Saturday after taking both pentathlon crowns Friday evening.
The Dutch women took second in a nine-team field with 85 points while Division III powerhouse Nebraska Wesleyan secured the victory with 213 points. The Central men also scored 85 points, good for second place in a 10-team field. McMurray (Texas) scored 126.3 points for the win.
Crouse improves weight throw mark—Junior Tyler Crouse (Hedrick, Pekin HS) came away with two personal bests, including another NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the weight throw (57 feet, 6.25 inches). His toss was over five feet better than second place and just shy of Jason Fisher’s 2008 school record (57-9.5). Crouse also took fourth in the shot put (48-2) and improved his lifetime best by almost a foot.
“Tyler has just been on fire the past couple weeks,” said coach Joe Dunham. “He has improved in both throws each weekend.”
The Dutch men dominated both throwing events, placing four in the top six. Matt Graber (senior, Newton) took third in the weight throw (51-7.75), followed by Phil Miller (Vinton, Vinton-Shellsburg HS) in fourth (51-7.75) and Josh Fleming (Caseyville, Ill., Collinsville HS) in sixth (46-4.25). Graber also took third in the shot put (50-7.5), followed by Miller in fifth (46-8.25) and Fleming in sixth (45-10.75). Additionally, Central took two of the top four places in the pole vault, with freshman Josh Stice (East Moline, Ill., United Township HS) taking second (13-11.25) and Aaron Fuller (sophomore, Aberdeen, S.D., Roncalli HS) nabbing fourth (13-5.25).
On the track, Allen Scovel (junior, Runnells, Southeast Polk HS) finished fourth in the 55 meter dash (6.62 seconds) after setting a personal best of 6.59 in the preliminary rounds. Kyle Wood (junior, Newton) took runner-up honors in the 400-meter dash (50.42) while Logan Danko (sophomore, Centerville) was sixth in the 200 meters (23.41). Ben Schornack (sophomore, Urbandale) placed fifth in the Mile (4:26.72) while the 4×400 relay team of Wood, Schornack, Scovel, and Trevor Veach (senior, Grinnell) finished third in 3:24.89.
Women score two victories—Sophomore Felicia Coleman (Houston, Texas, Frank J. Dobie HS) rolled to a victory in the 400 meters (1:00.34) and the distance medley relay team of Sara Crippen (senior, Williamsburg), Kristen Fariss (freshman, Batavia, Pekin HS), Kaity Sharp (Dike, Dike-New Hartford HS), and Molly Von Holten (Walnut, Ill., Bureau Valley HS) won in 13:26.89.
“It was the first time Felicia has run an open 400 indoors,” said Dunham. “She has good range and gives us a lot of options.”
Coleman also took third in the 55 meters (7.51) and was followed by teammates Rachel Purdy (sophomore, Ankeny) and Sam Retz (sophomore, Atkins, Benton HS) in the 400 meters, placing third (1:01.04) and fourth (1:01.71) respectively. Later, the team of Coleman, Purdy, Miranda Wehde (freshman, Tipton), and Lis Gerst (freshman, Spery, Mediapolis HS) finished fourth in the 4×400 meter relay (4:09.06). Other notable track performances include Crippen placing sixth in the 800 meters (2:29.12), Mel McDermott (sophomore, Britt, West Hancock HS) taking fifth in the Mile (5:27.93), and Amanda Melcher (sophomore, Libertyville, Fairfield HS) finishing fifth in the 3,000 meters (11:10.63).
The Central women also left their mark in the throwing events. Morgan Darrow (Newell, Storm Lake HS) continued her string of strong finishes, placing second in the weight throw (50-6.25) and third in the shot put (42-5.5). Megan Kittleson (junior, Osage) was fifth in the shot put (40-9) and Jess Fevold (junior, Iowa Falls, Webster City) was sixth (38-10.25). Fevold also took sixth in the weight throw (45-0.25) and was followed closely by Jesseka Kaldenberg (sophomore, Ankeny) in seventh (44-3.5). Meanwhile, Liz Hassenmiller (junior, Bettendorf, Davenport Assumption) was sixth in the pole vault (8-6.25).
“Our women’s throwers have been very good this year,” said Dunham. “It is probably our most improved area.”
The Dutch travel to Cedar Falls Friday for the UNI Open.
“This next meet is a good lead-up to conference,” said Dunham. “We like having it on Friday so we have an extra day to recover before our next meet.”
Luther topples Central men’s tennis team
DECORAH—Defending Iowa Conference champion Luther College overwhelmed the Central College men’s tennis squad 8-1 Saturday.
Freshman Zane Hendricks (Fort Dodge) picked up Central’s lone victory at No. 6 singles as he outlasted Luther’s Max Piepkorn 4-6, 6-2, 10-8. Hendricks improves to 3-0 on the season.
Luther, 2-0, won the rest of the singles matches in straight sets.
Bryn Boswell (sophomore, Pella) and Jacob Dreyer (senior, Cedar Falls) battled at No. 2 doubles before dropping a 9-8 (8-0) decision.
Central, 3-4, travels to Cedar Rapids Saturday, meeting Wis.-Oshkosh at noon before facing Coe College at 5 p.m. The Kohawks swept a pair of matches last season, outmuscling the Dutch 9-0 in Pella before taking a 5-0 victory in the conference tournament.
