Central wins two, takes another shot at NCAA track berths

Central College

LA CROSSE, WIS.— The Central College men’s and women’s track and field squads came away with a personal best and two individual wins Thursday at the Wis.-La Crosse Last Chance Meet in another attempt to qualify for the NCAA Division III outdoor championships.

Freshman Eli Horton (Runnells, Southeast Polk HS) ran a lifetime best of three minutes, 54.92 seconds in the 1,500-meter race, finishing fourth. The mark places Horton just within the top 50 in Division III.

Morgan Darrow (senior, Newell, Storm Lake HS) dominated the field events, winning both the hammer throw and the shot put. Her hammer throw mark of 172 feet, nine inches, was short of her season best and school-record toss of 178-2, which ranks fifth in Div. III. Darrow recorded a 44-0.4 mark in the shot put. Her best toss of the season (45-11.75) is sixth in the nation.

The men’s 4×100 relay team of Mitch Wagoner (sophomore, Iowa Falls), Logan Danko (junior, Centerville), Kyle Wood (senior, Newton) and Allen Scovel (senior, Runnells, Southeast Polk HS) crossed the line in 41.36 seconds to finish third. The time is 12th on the Div. III chart.

Also on the men’s side, the 4×400 squad of Wood, Trevor Veach (senior, Grinnell), Alex Edwards (freshman, Knoxville) and Scovel placed fourth (3:15.52). Wood took third (21.88) in the 200 meters while Danko was seventh (22.07). Josh Fleming (junior, Caseyville, Ill., Collinsville HS) finished eighth in the shot put at 48-10.25.

Another small contingent of the Dutch squad will compete at the Augustana (Ill.) Last Chance Meet Friday. Qualifiers accepted into the national meet will be announced Sunday. The men’s and women’s fields will take the top 20 and top 22 marks, respectively, along with the top 16 relays.