Central women earn NCAA relay berth
Central College
AMES—Making certain what was already likely, the Central College women’s track and field squad sealed up an automatic qualifying spot in the 4×400-meter relay Saturday at the Iowa State Cyclone Qualifier. The Dutch men also gained two provisional qualifiers.
The team of Jill Ziskovsky (senior, Dallas Center, Dallas Center-Grimes HS), Emily Teas (senior, Indianola), Rachel Purdy (sophomore, Ankeny), and Felicia Coleman (sophomore, Houston, Texas, J. Frank Dobie HS) already had a banner season in progress, breaking the previous 4×400 relay school record Feb. 18 and winning the Iowa Conference championship in that event one week later. Their previous time of three minutes, 55.46 seconds was already likely to qualify them for the NCAA Division III championship meet. On Saturday, however, they erased any doubt, crossing the line in 3:50.45 to place seventh in a field loaded with primarily Division I opponents.
“These women are running really, really well,” said coach Joe Dunham. “We believe they can compete for one of the top spots next weekend.”
The Division III indoor track championships are contested on a 200-meter track and since Iowa State’s facility is 300 meters, their time converts to 3:52.45, good for fourth in the Division III rankings heading into the meet and crushing their previous school record.
Earlier in the day, Morgan Darrow (junior, Newell, Storm Lake HS) set the tone, taking down her own record in the weight throw with a toss of 52 feet, 4.5 inches to earn an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Jess Fevold (junior, Iowa Falls, Webster City HS) improved her personal best with a throw of 47-10. Darrow is currently ranked 32nd in Division III.
“Morgan has built a lot of momentum this indoor season,” said Dunham. “It seems like she gets a seasonal best almost every weekend.”
Dutch men qualify two—The Central men’s squad also gained a pair of NCAA provisional qualifiers. Kyle Wood (junior, Newton) ran a personal best of 48.87 (49.47) in the 400 meters (16th), while Ben Schornack (sophomore, Urbandale) crossed the line in lifetime-best 1:53.59 (1:54.69). They are currently ranked 14th and 27th respectively in Division III.
“I thought that both Ben and Kyle put out some great efforts today,” said Dunham. “We’ll have to see if those marks can get them in.”
Wood and Schornack teamed with Allen Scovel (junior, Runnells, Southeast Polk HS) and Trevor Veach (junior, Grinnell) in the 4×400 relay and finished 13th in a season’s best time of 3:20.09 (2:22.49) but fell short of a qualifying bid.
In addition to the women’s 4×400 squad, only Ethan Miller (junior, Seymour) and Kurtis Brondyke (senior, Clinton) have gained automatic qualifying marks and are guaranteed a spot at the NCAA Division III Championships in Columbus, Ohio March 11-12. The Dutch will now have to wait and see how many provisional entries will be accepted. The field will be announced Sunday.
“Overall were pleased with how things went today,” said Dunham. “Not everything turned out perfect, but we improved in several areas and should have a good group heading to Ohio next week.”
