Central’s Graber, Wood claim league honors

Central College

PELLA—Central College’s Matt Graber (senior, Newton) and Kyle Wood (junior, Newton) are the Iowa Conference men’s outdoor track and field athletes of the week.

It’s the fifth consecutive week a Central athlete has won honors in either track or field events.

Wood is recognized as the track events athlete. It’s the fourth straight week he has been cited and the sixth time in his career. Wood snagged three event titles at the Central Open Thursday. He captured the 200 meters in 22.51 seconds and was part of the winning 4×400-meter relay (3:20.85) and 4×100 relay (42.0 seconds).

Graber is the field events athlete. He won his fifth-straight shot put crown with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 51-0.75. He also placed eighth in the hammer throw with a toss of 146-6. Graber was previously honored April 11 and noted twice in 2010.

The Dutch return to action Wednesday, with a partial squad competing at the Drake Relays multi-event competition in Des Moines. The rest of the Central squad will travel to the Kip Janvrin Open at Simpson College on Thursday in Indianola.