Central men in striking distance at league track meet

DECORAH— Scoring in all five of Friday’s events at the American Rivers Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, the Central College men’s track and field team is 18 points out of first place.

Central has 24 points and is in fourth place after the first day. Wartburg College leads the nine-team field with 42 points.

Long jumper Brock Lewis (sophomore, Lathrop, Mo.) earned a spot on the podium, finishing second with a leap of 23 feet, 4 inches.

“He obviously jumped well,” coach Brandon Sturman said. “We were hoping to win it but he got passed on the final jump and he wasn’t able to match it. It’s a tough place to jump because there are no boards.”

In other field events, Tanner Johnson (junior, Gallatin, Mo.) was fourth in the pole vault (13-7) and Theo Baldus (sophomore, St. Ansgar) was sixth in the shot put (46-0).

“That was an indoor PR for Tanner,” Sturman said. “Theo wasn’t even seeded and still made the finals.”

Daniel Sunvold (Monroe, Southeast Polk HS) was fourth in the 5,000 meters, clocking in at 15 minutes, 17.69 seconds. In the distance medley relay, Caleb Silver (freshman, Conrad, BCLUW HS), Bryan Marlin (freshman, Salem, Mo.), Jack Sagan (sophomore, Riverside, Ill., Riverside-Brookfield HS) and Adam Sylvia (freshman, Rochester, Mass., Old Rochester Regional HS)

“Sunvold ran great in the 5000,” Sturman said. “That race went out fast and he did a good job of staying with them but not overdoing it. He maintained a distance that was comfortable him and he ended up with an eight-second PR.

Following the first four events in the heptathlon, Lucas Heitz (freshman, Adel, ADM HS) is fifth (2,352 points) and Nick Thompson (sophomore, Newhall, Benton HS) is sixth (2,328 points).

Freshman Jonathan Bossou (Ottumwa) qualified for Saturday’s 55-meter dash final with a time of 8.14 seconds.

Day two of the conference championships starts on Saturday at 10 a.m.