Dutch track and field men take title, women second at Cornell Invitational
Central College
MOUNT VERNON — The Central College track and field teams shined Saturday, as the men’s squad won its first title of the season and the women’s team grabbed a runner-up finish at the Cornell Invitational.
The Central men finished with 108 points in the six-team field, seven clear of second-place Iowa Conference foe Coe, which had 101. League member Simpson took third with 64 points, while host Cornell was fourth with 59 points. Southwestern was fifth with 54 points and Clarke took sixth with 37 points.
“I think our men’s team looked really good today,” coach Joe Dunham said. “This will serve as a good launching point into the rest of the season.”
On the women’s side, the Dutch scored 87 points in the six-team field, trailing only host Cornell, who was victorious with 110 points. Clarke finished third with 79 points, while Simpson and Coe were fourth and fifth with 64 and 62 points, respectively. Southwestern wrapped up the scoring with 34 points.
“Overall, it was a good performance form the women,” Dunham said. “I liked the competiveness I saw from them, but we still have a lot of work to do.”
Dunham was quick to give credit where it’s due.
“My assistant coaches do a great job getting our athletes ready and getting them in shape to compete at a high level,” he said. “I can’t say enough about their contributions to this team.”
Dutch men win title—
The Dutch men won four events, led by the relay team of Hunter Howe (sophomore, La Plata, Mo./La Plata R-II HS), Alex Bleadorn (senior, Waverly/Waverly-Shell Rock HS), Austin Roberts (senior, Bloomfield/Davis County HS) and Blake Morgan (sophomore, Story City/Roland-Story HS). The foursome won both relays, the 4×200 meter in 1:33.95 and the 4×400 meter in 3:28.86.
“Our relays were good today,” Dunham said. “We have some things to clean up with the handoffs, but overall it was a good performance.”
Junior Cole Decker (Des Moines/Dowling Catholic HS) took the one mile title in 4:23.24, three seconds off his personal best.
“I was excited to see Cole run after some tough workouts lately,” Dunham said. “He ran really smart and it’s good to see him come close to a personal best.”
Junior Logan Mulford (Mount Pleasant) won the high jump with a distance of 6 feet, 9.75 inches, the sixth-longest jump in Division III this season.
“Logan did a good job today,” Dunham said. “He wants to get to the seven-foot mark, but this was a good performance.”
Downs leads Dutch to runner-up finish—
2015 all-Iowa Conference honoree Ashlee Downs (senior, Urbandale, Iowa, West Des Moines Valley HS) won three events, including the long jump at 16-6.75 and the 200 meters in 27.20 seconds.
“Ashlee is extremely fit right now considering where we’re at in the season,” Dunham said. “She put in a great winter and that’s paying off right now.”
Downs was joined by Hope Heitman (freshman, Guttenburg/Clayton Ridge HS), Kate Patton (sophomore, Murray) and Monica Ruiz (senior, Hudson) to win the 4×200 meter relay in 1:47.82.
Two-time indoor all-American Abi Davis (senior, West Des Moines/Dowling Catholic HS) won the 400 meters in 59.07.
“Abi has looked good all season,” Dunham said. “We need to make sure she stays healthy and sets herself up for a great season.”
Central will host the Dutch Athletics Classic next Friday and Saturday in the H.S. Kuyper Fieldhouse. Events will begin at 4 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday.
“Next week will be another step in the process of getting better and preparing for the conference meet and beyond,” Dunham said.
