Trio from Central set to take on NCAA national cross country meet
Central Dutch Athletics
PELLA — On Saturday, the red and white uniform of the Central College men’s and women’s cross country teams will appear at the NCAA Division III Championship meet Saturday as Mark Fairley (senior, Dubuque), Tanner Rathje (senior, Marion, Linn-Mar HS) and Holly McKinney (senior, Saint Charles, Interstate 35 HS) qualified at the NCAA Division III Central Regional.
This is the seventh straight year Central will be represented on the men’s side and the first time since the 2009 women’s cross country team qualified for the big stage on the women’s side.
“This program has strived to compete on the national level and anytime you are able to get there its special,” said coach Joe Dunham. “It’s a challenge to be able to make it to nationals and we couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to compete.”
The trio of seniors head to Elsah, Ill. Saturday for the championship meet. Principia College is the host school and the 8,000 and 6,000-meter courses are located at the North Farm Facility.
Fairley won the regional after completing the course in 24 minutes, 52.9 seconds. Fairley is the third Dutch runner in the last five years to win the regional race (Eli Horton 2013, Cole Decker 2015). This is Fairley’s fourth consecutive trip to the national meet.
“Mark has developed into a really strong runner over his career and really took off last spring when he finished runner-up at nationals in the steeplechase,” said Dunham. “He’s turned himself into one of the top runners in the country.”
Rathje returns to the national stage after a one-year hiatus after competing at nationals his first two seasons as the team qualified in 2014 and 2015. He looks to improve on his 163rd finish in 2015.
“Tanner ran his best race of the season last week and we’re looking for him to continue to improve this week at nationals,” said Dunham. “He’s already gone through the process before and knows what to expect.”
McKinney will make her first appearance on the national cross country stage however she competed at the 2016 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.
“Holly is getting faster throughout the season,” said Dunham. “She’s very competitive and a is a mentally strong woman. I think she’s ready to hit it big this weekend. She’s experienced everything that goes with competing at nationals already and I think that will help her this weekend.”
Having five men’s All-Americans and six women’s All-Americans, Fairley, Rathje and McKinney need a top-35 finish to join the accomplished list. Central’s last All-American was Cole Decker ’15 after he finished 22nd in his final race.
The men’s race will begin at 11 a.m. Central time followed by the women’s race at 12:15 p.m. Central time. Coverage of the event can be found at http://principiaathletics.com/sports/2017/8/22/2017-ncaa-diii-cross-country-national-championships.aspx.
