Central set to host Iowa Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship
Central Dutch Athletics
PELLA — All nine Iowa Conference indoor track and field squads will descend upon Pella this weekend to compete in the league’s indoor track and field championship hosted by Central College in H.S. Kuyper Fieldhouse
It’s the second time Central has hosted the league’s indoor championship meet, having previously done so in 2011. The 2018 rendition will be the 16th iteration of the Iowa Conference holding an indoor track and field championship
At the 2017 indoor championships in Dubuque, Nebraska Wesleyan University ended Wartburg College’s 14-year run of women’s crowns. On the men’s side, the University of Dubuque picked up its first indoor title. The Dutch men finished runner-up while the women’s team placed fifth.
Two Central men were event champions in 2017, highlighted by Will Daniels (sophomore, Geneseo, Ill.) setting a meet record with 4,753 points in the heptathlon. Logan Mulford ‘17 cleared 6 feet, 9.5 inches in the high jump to win the event in consecutive years.
Five individual champions return to defend their titles on the women’s side. The Most Valuable Performer in the field events last year, Tanasha Atwater (Dubuque) will go for another shot put title. Nebraska Wesleyan jumpers Toree Hempstead (high jump) and Hannah Manley (triple jump) are back as is Elyse Acompando, the defending long jump champion from Loras College. The only returning individual champion from the track events is 60-meter hurdler Maggi Bjustrom of Wartburg College.
Alec Bass of Dubuque leads the returning champions on the men’s side as the 2017 track events MVP will vie for another distance double in the 3,000-meter run and 5,000-meter run. Simpson hurdler Dylan Kalinay will attempt to repeat in the 60-meter hurdles while teammate Emmitt Wheatley returns in the 60-meter dash. Shot putter Blaze Murfin from Dubuque is also favored to pick up back-to-back conference crowns.
The action gets started at 10 a.m. on Friday morning with the first four disciplines of the heptathlon. Field events start at 4 p.m. and the first running events are scheduled for 6 p.m. with the women’s 5,000-meter run.
Admission is free to all Central College students, faculty and staff with their IDs. Cost of admission at the door is $6 for adults and $3 for students.
