Central men’s tennis team drops two
Central College
CEDAR RAPIDS—The Central College men’s tennis team put in a long day but without much of a payoff Saturday, suffering a 6-3 loss to Wis.-Oshkosh and a 9-0 defeat against Coe College.
Wis.-Oshkosh (3-2) pulled out several close decisions against the Dutch in a lengthy afternoon match. Seth Harris (junior, Waverly, Neb.) was a 7-6, 6-2 winner at No. 2 singles while Zane Hendricks (freshman, Fort Dodge) improved to 7-4 with a 0-6, 6-3 (10-3) comeback victory at No. 6 singles. But Wis.-Oshkosh was victorious in two three-set singles matches and also in a tiebreaker.
Central’s Bryn Boswell (sophomore, Pella) and Jacob Dreyer (senior, Cedar Falls) scored a 9-8 decision at No. 2 doubles.
Coe, which toppled Wis.-Oshkosh 7-2, swept Central in singles in straight sets in the evenng. Boswell and Dreyer had the tightest match, a 9-8 (9-7) loss at No. 2 doubles.
Central (3-6 overall, 2-5 spring) travels to Mount Vernon for a match at Cornell College Saturday at 9 a.m. An additional match was originally slated with Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.) but was cancelled.
At Cedar Rapids
Wis.-Oshkosh 6, Central 3
Singles—Nate Kilsdonk (WO) def. Dan Bowser, 6-4, 6-2; Seth Harris (C) def. Dustin Blackburn, 7-6, 6-2; Robbie Price (WO) def. Bryn Boswell, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1; Kevin Lewis (WO) def. Kyle Freischlag, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0; Scott Niemi (WO) def. Jacob Dreyer, 6-3, 5-7 (10-6); Zane Hendricks (C) def. Josh Hopfensperger, 0-6, 6-3 (10-3).
Doubles—Kilsdonk-Lewis (WO) def. Bowser-Harris, 8-4; Boswell-Dreyer (C) def. Eric Hoffman-Price (WO), 9-8; Blackburn-Hopfensperger (WO) def. Freischlag-Hendricks, 8-4.
Coe 9, Central 0
Singles—Victor Khristenko def. Bowser, 6-3, 6-2; Elliot Rausa def. Harris, 6-4, 6-2; Scott Stegemann def. Boswell, 6-3, 6-1; Jonathan Roger def. Freischlag, 6-0, 6-1; Jeff Damisch def. Dreyer, 6-1, 6-2; Alex Klaas def. Hendricks, 6-2, 6-2.
Doubles—Rausa-Stegemann def. Bowser-Harris, 8-4; Curtis Newman-Kyle Tucker def. Boswell-Dreyer, 9-8 (9-7); Khristenko-Stokstad Def. Freischlag-Hendricks 8-3.
Dutch shatter two more records
CEDAR FALLS—The Central College men’s and women’s track squads completed their indoor regular season schedule at the UNI Open in Cedar Falls Friday with a trio of NCAA provisional qualifying mark including two new school records.
No team scores were kept.
Women’s 4×400 relay makes strong bid—The women’s 4×400-meter relay team of Jill Ziskovsky (senior, Dallas Center, Dallas Center-Grimes HS), Emily Teas (senior, Indianola), Rachel Purdy (sophomore, Ankeny), and Felicia Coleman (sophomore, Houston, Texas, J. Frank Dobie HS) crossed the line in 3 minutes, 55.46 seconds, good for second place and a new school record along with improving their early-season NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Ziskovsky and Teas, along with graduates Rachelle Tipton and Kari Hutchinson, set the previous mark of 3:55.68 in 2008 before earning all-America honors in the event at the national meet.
“That group of women has been great all season,” said coach Joe Dunham. “That is a strong provisional mark and gives them a good shot to get into the national meet.”
Meanwhile, junior Morgan Darrow (Newell, Storm Lake HS) broke the weight throw record for the second time this season with a heave of 51 feet, 3.75 inches and finished third. Her previous school mark of 50-10.75 was set Feb. 5.
Darrow also finished fourth in the shot put (42-8.25) with teammate Jess Fevold (Iowa Falls, Webster City HS) close behind in sixth (40-3.5). Fevold placed fifth in the weight throw (47-7) while Jesseka Kaldenberg (sophomore, Ankeny) was sixth (45-0.5)
Other notable performance for the women’s squad include fifth-place finishes by Teas in the 200 meters (26.41) and Kaity Sharp (Dike, Dike-New Hartford HS) in the 800 meters (2:26.61) along with a pair of personal bests for Sara Crippen (senior, Williamsburg) and Molly Von Holten (senior, Walnut, Ill., Bureau Valley HS) in the Mile, finishing in fourth (5:23.9) and sixth (5:33.49) respectively.
“Our middle distance women ran outstanding today,” said Dunham. “Sara Crippen had an great kick. That’s the kind of mentality you need to do well in those events.”
Graber improves NCAA shot put bid—Senior Matt Graber (Newton) turned in his best performance of 2011 with a toss of 52-8.75 in the shot put. That performance was good for third place and improved his previous NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 51-9 from Feb. 5. Graber also took fourth in the weight throw (50-3.25) with Phil Miller (junior, Vinton, Vinton-Shellsburg HS) close behind in fifth (50-2).
“Matt has been battling some injury issues this winter but is still putting up solid performances,” said Dunham. “He’s showing a lot of grit.”
The Dutch men also made a statement in the pole vault, taking three of the top five spots with Aaron Fuller (sophomore, Aberdeen, S.D., Roncalli HS) and Ethan Miller (junior, Seymour) taking third and fourth respectively after clearing 14-1.25 while freshman Nick Lemmon (Kent, Wash., Kent-Meridain HS) took fifth with a vault of 13-1.5.
“It’s great to have depth in the pole vault,” said Dunham. “It’s tough to get vaulters in Iowa but we have a nice little group right now. They work well together.”
On the track, Miller and Kurtis Brondyke (senior, Clinton) took sixth (8.48) and seventh (8.5) respectively in the 60 hurdles while Ben Schornack (sophomore, Urbandale) raced to a personal best in the 800 meters and finished fourth (1:55.95). The 4×400 relay squad of Kyle Wood (junior, Newton), Allen Scovel (sophomore, Runnells, Southeast Polk HS), Schornack, and Trevor Veach (junior, Grinnell) took third in a time of 3:25.07.
“We looked sharp today across the board,” said Dunham. “We’ll have a lot of momentum heading into the conference meet.”
The Dutch will play host to the Iowa Conference championship meet next Friday and Saturday at H.S. Kuyper Fieldhouse. The multi-event competition is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Friday while the field events are slated for 4 p.m. with the running events at 6 p.m. The two-day meet will conclude Saturday.
Central’s men are the defending indoor champions, winning the meet last year with a league-record 213.8 points. The Dutch women placed fourth last winter.
“We have high expectations for next weekend,” said Dunham. “Being in front of a home crowd for the Iowa Conference championships is a great opportunity. We’ll be ready to compete.”
