Central’s Miller, Mosher snag regional honors
Central College
PELLA—For the third straight season, Central College junior Ethan Miller (Seymour) and associate head coach Guy Mosher received regional honors from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Miller was tabbed the Division III Central Region men’s indoor field athlete of the year, while Mosher was named the Central Region men’s assistant coach of the year.
The pair won the same honors in both the 2010 indoor and outdoor seasons.
Heading into the NCAA Division III indoor championship meet this weekend, Miller holds the nation’s top marks in both the long jump (24-1.75) and the pentathlon (3,876 points). He is tied as the No. 9 seed with a season’s best high jump of 6-8.75.
Miller earned the Iowa Conference’s field athlete of the year award after capturing titles in the long jump and pentathlon at the league’s indoor meet Feb. 25-26 in Pella. He also finished second in the triple jump and third in the high jump.
“It’s just a credit to his hard work,” coach Joe Dunham said. “He has a passion for track and field and a desire to get better. He sets the bar high for himself, and it’s exciting to watch him improve each year.”
In his 20th season, Mosher is a nationally recognized combined events coach. He has coached athletes who have captured all-America honors more than 190 times in 12 events, including 15 national champions in seven events.
Under Mosher’s direction, Central has three combined-event athletes headed to the NCAA meet. Along with Miller, seniors Kurtis Brondyke (Clinton) and Jill Ziskovsky (Dallas Center, Dallas Center-Grimes HS) will compete in the pentathlon. Brondyke is ranked a close second behind Miller with 3,759 points, while Ziskovsky is fourth in the nation with a league-record 3,354-point performance.
“Mosher is a great coach and is very deserving of recognition,” Dunham said. “He does a great job getting athletes to peak at the right time. He understands the sport and brings a lot to our program.”
Also competing this weekend is the women’s 4×400 relay team, ranked fourth in the nation. Emily Teas (senior, Indianola), Felicia Coleman (sophomore, Houston, Texas, J. Frank Dobie HS), Rachel Purdy (sophomore, Ankeny) and Ziskovsky enter the meet fresh off breaking the school record for the second time in 2011 at the Cyclone Qualifier Saturday (3:52.45). Sam Retz (sophomore, Atkins, Benton HS) is the relay’s alternate. Competing in the shot put is junior Morgan Darrow (Newell, Storm Lake HS), ranked 15th (44-7.75), and senior Matt Graber (Newton), ranked 13th (53-7).
Dunham, the two-time men’s conference coach of the year, and Mosher guided the men’s team to its second consecutive league title in February. The squad takes a No. 5 USTFCCCA ranking into the national meet, held at Capital University Friday and Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.
