Central men lead after first full day of conference meet
Central College
STORM LAKE — At the halfway point of the Iowa Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the Central College men are nursing a one-point lead.
After eight events, the Dutch have 64 points while Wartburg College trails behind with 63.
“I couldn’t be happier,” coach Joe Dunham said. “I felt like we competed at such a high level. We’re ahead of where I expected us to be. We’ve set ourselves up for a great day tomorrow.”
Setting a stadium record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Mark Fairley (junior, Dubuque) competed the race in a winning time of 9 minutes, 29.40 seconds. Fairley’s win makes it five straight victories for the Dutch men in the conference steeplechase.
“It was a situation where he could shut it down because he such a large lead,” Dunham said. “He realizes we’ve got a lot more work to do this weekend.”
Central also got a win from Logan Mulford (senior, Mount Pleasant) in the high jump after clearing 6 feet, 9.5 inches. Will Daniels (freshman, Geneseo, Ill.) and Reese Iversen (junior, Grimes, Dallas Center-Grimes HS) were fourth and fifth in 6-7.5 and 6-5.5
Ryan Kruse (senior, St. Clair, Minn.) nearly overcame a 400-point deficit in the decathlon, thanks to a career-best pole vault (13-1.5). He settled for a second-place finish after amassing 6,309 points. Daniels was fifth with 6,012 points.
“It’s great to see Logan win again,” Dunham said. “Will competed at such a high level after being tired from the decathlon. He had five PR’s today, the future is bright for him.”
Nathan Fitzgerald (sophomore, Elkader, Central Elkader HS) surpassed 50 feet in the shot put, reaching 50-2.5 and finishing third. Central also got field events points from Justin Wimbish (junior, Glendale, Ariz., Apollo HS) and Jordon Woods (freshman, Orland Park, Ill. Carl Sandburg HS) in the long jump. Wimbish was third (23-0.75) and Woods was seventh (21-0.5)
“Nathan came ready to go,” Dunham said. “He competed hard. He’s going to be a huge part of our day tomorrow.”
Central got three points from Isaac Steffensmeier in the 10,000-meter run, who finished sixth in 32:56.93. The Dutch 4×800-meter relay team of Jon Specht (junior, Dubuque, Hempstead HS), Kyle Pape (junior, Dubuque, Wahlert Catholic HS), Preston Kizer (freshman, Dubuque) and Nick Cooper (freshman, Sheboygan, Wis., South HS) was third in 7:47.42.
Pape qualified eighth in the 800-meter run (1:54.40) while Blake Morgan (junior, Story City, Roland-Story HS) also qualified eighth in the 400-meter dash (49.92 seconds). Wimbish qualified third in the 100-meter dash (11.18 seconds) and fourth in the 200-meter dash (22.24 seconds).
The final day of competitions kicks off Saturday at 10 a.m. with field events. The running events will start at 1:30 p.m.
