Central earns a pair of high finishes at league meet
Central College
MOUNT VERNON-Led by Iowa Conference Track Events Most Valuable Performer Kyle Wood (senior, Newton), the Central College men’s track and field team took second place at the league championship meet Saturday while the women’s squad finished third.
The Dutch men accumulated 182 points, but were unable to win their third consecutive indoor league championship. Wartburg College took the team title with 210.5 points. Loras was third with 84.5 points, followed by Dubuque in fourth (65.5), Luther in fifth (64), Simpson in sixth (52), Cornell in seventh (38.5), Coe in eighth (23), and Buena Vista was ninth (21) to round out the field.
“Overall I thought we had a good weekend,” said coach Joe Dunham. “It was obviously disappointing not complete the three-peat on the men’s side, but I’m proud of the effort that everyone gave.”
Heavy favorite Wartburg won the women’s championship with 317 points while Loras was second with 82.5 points and Central tallied 71.5 points. Luther was fourth (69), Coe was fifth (57), Simpson was sixth (54), Dubuque was seventh (34), Buena Vista was eighth (31), and Cornell took ninth (25).
“Our women really matured at this meet,” said Dunham. “We lost some big leaders last year so it was tough to predict how they would respond at a conference championship. They showed a lot of character today and we were pleased with the result.”
Wood repeats as track MVP-After earning the same honors at last year’s outdoor conference championships, Wood capped an outstanding two-day effort Saturday. He won his second straight indoor 400-meter dash title in a season’s best time of 49.93 seconds, was runner-up in the 200 meters (22.33), and teamed with Trevor Veach (senior, Grinnell), Allen Scovel (senior, Runnells, Southeast Polk HS), and Mason Zimmerman (freshman, Urbandale) to win the 4×400 relay (3:23.32). His 200-meter mark equaled Adam Hartford’s 2001 school record.
“Kyle is clearly a talented athlete,” said Dunham. “But more importantly he is one of the hardest workers on the team and a great leader. It’s nice to see him get that recognition.”
Including Wood’s victories, the Central men racked up five more wins Saturday for a total of eighth over the course of the meet. Notably, Saturday’s wins were almost entirely accomplished by Central’s freshman class. Early in the day, Eric Larson (freshman, Waverly, Waverly-Shell Rock HS) won a tight competition in the men’s heptathlon, scoring a personal-best 4,661 points to defeat top seed Dalen Dirth of Luther by two points. Later, L.J. Lipscomb (freshman, Johnston) surprised the 800-meter field by winning the event from the second heat in a personal-best time of 1:56.02. Lipscomb then anchored the winning 4×800 relay (7:59.72) along with Ben Schornack (junior, Urbandale), Jamie Vander Veer (freshman, Knoxville), and Alex Edwards (freshman, Knoxville).
“We saw some great things from our freshmen men,” said Dunham. “Being able to produce at big meets is incredibly important and they got their conference championship careers off to a fantastic start this weekend.”
Central also scored big in the short sprints. Scovel was third (7.10) in the 60 meters to take all-conference honors, while Mitch Wagoner (sophomore, Iowa Falls, Iowa Falls-Alden HS) was sixth (7.19) and Logan Danko (junior, Centerville) was seventh (7.21). Danko also took third (22.67) in the 200 meters behind Wood, with Veach finishing eighth (22.94). Tyler Crouse (senior, Hedrick, Pekin HS) and Phil Miller (senior, Vinton, Vinton-Shellsburg HS) took second (53-9) and third (52-8.25) respectively in the weight throw, while Breighen Powell (senior, Wellman, Mid-Prairie HS) was fourth (4,263) in the heptathlon and Aaron Fuller (junior, Aberdeen, S.D., Roncalli HS) was fifth (4,432). Schornack was sixth (1:58.53) in the 800 meters, while Austin O’Brien (sophomore, Bettendorf, Pleasant Valley HS), Drew Jackson (freshman, Johnston), and Eli Horton (freshman, Runnells, Southeast Polk HS) went 3-4-5 for the Dutch in the Mile with times of 4:24.12, 4:24.23, and 4:24.28, respectively. Horton also took seventh in the 3,000 meters (8:53.71). Emery Davis (junior, Crawfordsville, Winfield-Mt. Union HS) chipped in with a seventh-place finish (40-10.25) in the triple jump. Larson was eighth in the 60 hurdles (10.11), while he and Connor Freeman (freshman, Urbandale) took sixth (6-4.75) and eighth (6-00.75) respectively in the high jump.
Coleman break own record-Felicia Coleman (junior, Houston, Texas, J. Frank Dobie HS) cracked her own record in the 60 meters Saturday, finishing fifth in a time of 7.89. Her previous record of 7.91 was a converted time from the 55-meter final at last year’s indoor championships. Coleman also took fifth in the 200 meters (25.75) and teamed with Rachel Northrup (freshman, Griswold), Rachel Purdy (junior, Ankeny), and Miranda Wehde (sophomore, Tipton) to earn all-conference honors with a third-place finish (4:02.08) in the 4×400 relay.
“The Iowa Conference is very good, especially in the sprints,” said Dunham. “Felicia and the rest of that crew ran well today. It was nice to see the 4×400 relay make it to the podium.”
Northrup was sixth in the 400 meters (1:00.39), Sarah Mueller (freshman, Urbandale) took eighth in the 800 meters (2:26), and Shelby Mendoza (sophomore, Norwalk) was seventh in the Mile (5:26.41). Mueller, Kaity Sharp (sophomore, Dike, Dike-New Hartford HS), Amanda Lamb (junior, Fairfield), and Emily Saville (freshman, Cedar Rapids, Linn-Mar HS) were fourth (10:05.22) in the 4×800 relay, while Caitlin Wilson (senior, Oakland, Riverside HS) and Hillary Hotz (freshman, Fort Dodge, St. Edmond HS) took third (5-1) and fifth (5-1) respectively in the high jump.
“We had a balanced effort on the women’s side,” said Dunham. “We didn’t have any event winners, but still managed to finish third overall. All of those two, three, and four-point performances really add up.”
With the conference meet in the books, the Dutch will now turn their attention towards the NCAA Division III Championships March 9-10 in Grinnell. The Dutch will take a limited squad to the North Central Last Chance Meet next Saturday for one more attempt at national qualifying marks.
“We’re excited to see what this next week will bring us,” said Dunham. “The national meet is in our backyard this year so we’d like to get some good representation there.
