New season-best marks for Central track athletes at Augustana
Central Dutch Athletics
ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS — Though none of the efforts on the track and in the throwing ring are likely to equal berths at the national meet, the Central College track and field team recorded good marks at the Augustana Twilight Qualifier Thursday night.
There were no team scores kept in the meet that serves as one of the final opportunities for athletes to qualify for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
The men’s 4×400-meter relay team of Mitchell Yaw (junior, Orange City, MOC-Floyd Valley HS), Blake Morgan (senior, Story City, Roland-Story HS), Justin Wimbish (senior, Glendale, Ariz., Apollo HS) and Hunter Howe (senior, La Plata, Mo.) ran a season-best time of 3:16.79. They’ll finish the season No. 25 in the country when only the top-20 teams qualify.
“They all ran great legs, but it won’t be good enough for them to get into nationals,” assistant coach Jon Graupmann said. “They have really improved and the three seniors had great careers. They’ve been good ambassadors for the program and the school and I’m proud of them.”
Competing in the men’s 200-meter dash and 400-meter dash, Trevor Ruiz (senior, Hudson) was ninth in the 400 (51.88 seconds) and 17th in the 200 (22.88).
Men’s thrower Michael Firkins (senior, Centerville) capped his season and career with a toss of 160 feet, 5 inches in the hammer throw.
The Dutch women were represented by freshmen throwers Kennedy Morris (Earlham) and Gillian Streit (Manilla, Harlan HS). Placing eighth in the discus throw, Morris moved up to No. 25 on the national qualifying list with a new career-best toss of 143 feet exactly. Streit placed 12th in 136-3.
“That’s a new lifetime PR for Kennedy, but they only take 22,” Graupmann said. “There’s a bright future for Central’s women’s throwers.”
The official qualifying list for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be released over the weekend. The national meet will be held in La Crosse, Wisconsin May 24-26.
