Central rolls to league pentathlon crowns
Central College
PELLA—It was once again a Central sweep of the Iowa Conference men’s and women’s pentathlon titles at the league indoor track and field championships at H.S. Kuyper Fieldhouse Friday. Senior Jill Ziskovsky (Dallas Center, Dallas Center-Grimes HS) set a new meet record with 3,354 points to take the women’s crown. Meanwhile, senior Kurtis Brondyke (Clinton) and junior Ethan Miller (Seymour) shared the men’s title with 3,475 points.
Through seven events, the Central men sit atop the field with 102.17 points. Wartburg College is second with 55 and Cornell College is third with 30.33.
The Dutch women accumulated 53.5 points on the first day, with heavy favorite Wartburg leading with 79 and Luther College in third with 38.
In a repeat of the 2010 league outdoor meet, Miller leaves the first day having already claimed the pole vault and long jump crowns. His vault of 13 feet, 11.25 inches was six inches higher than the nearest competitors, while his second attempt in the prelims of the long jump was measured at 24-1.75, improving his NCAA automatic qualifying mark from earlier in the season and increasing his lead atop the national Division III leaderboard. Miller also qualified for the finals of the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.06 seconds.
“Ethan continues to amaze,” said coach Joe Dunham. “Some athletes are so good that you forget you are coaching them and just sit back and watch.”
Meanwhile, Brondyke took third in the long jump (22-6.5) and will join Miller in the finals of the 55 hurdles after crossing the line in 7.94 seconds in the preliminary rounds.
Following Miller and Brondyke in the pentathlon was Breighen Powell (Wellman, Mid-Prairie HS). Powell used a season’s best high jump of 6-4.25 to place fifth overall with 2,889 points.
The Dutch men also placed two in Saturday’s 55-meter dash finals. Allen Scovel (junior, Runnells, Southeast Polk HS) and Logan Danko (sophomore, Centerville) finished sixth (6.6 seconds) and eighth (6.69 seconds) respectively to move on.
As dictated by league rules, every squad is allowed three competitors in each open event, with two additional “wild card” entries available to use in their strongest events. Central took immediate advantage of their wild-card entries Friday evening, placing four in the top five in the pole vault and four in the top seven of the shot put.
Freshmen Josh Stice (East Moline, Ill., United Township HS) and Nick Lemmon (Kent, Wash., Kent-Meridain HS) finished as part of a three-way tie for second in the vault at 13-5.25 while Aaron Fuller (sophomore, Aberdeen, S.D., Roncalli HS) tied for fifth at 12-11.5.
Meanwhile, senior Matt Graber (Newton) dominated the field in the shot put, successfully defending his league title and likely stamping his ticket to the NCAA national meet with a mark of 53-7, narrowly missing his meet record of 53-10.25 from last year. Teammate Phil Miller (junior, Vinton, Vinton-Shellsburg HS) gained all-league honors, finishing in third with a mark of 47-11.75, while Tyler Crouse (junior, Hedrick, Pekin HS) and Josh Fleming (sophomore, Caseyville, Ill., Collinsville HS) placed sixth (46-6.75) and seventh (46-6) respectively.
“We have a lot of depth in those events and they came through for us today,” said Dunham. “Any time you can place four guys in an event you know they’re doing something right.”
The men’s distance medley of Andrew Hamer (junior, Murray), Phil Heisterkamp (sophomore, Jefferson, Jefferson-Scranton HS), Kenny Kemp (junior, Waterloo, West HS), and Ben Schornack (sophomore, Urbandale) finished fourth (10:39.74) while the 4×200 relay of Kyle Wood (junior, Newton), Trevor Veach (junior, Grinnell), Mitch Wagoner (freshman, Iowa Falls, Iowa Falls-Alden HS), and Danko was second in a time of 1:31.99.
“The 4×200 guys ran a gutsy race,” said Dunham. “Every year I’m reminded how turbulent that race can be.”
Ziskovsky leads women—Ziskovsky followed up her league-record pentathlon performance earlier in the day with a runner-up finish in the long jump (16-10.25). Ziskovsky’s pentathlon score improved his NCAA provisional qualifying mark and moved her to third on the Division III national list.
“Jill really put together a great first day,” said Dunham.
Meanwhile, standout Felicia Coleman (sophomore, Houston Texas, J. Frank Dobie HS) added to her list of accomplishments Friday, placing second in the prelims of the 55 meters and resetting her own school record with a time of 7.34 seconds.
Senior Emily Teas (Indianola) also made the finals of the 55 meters with a personal best of 7.52 seconds. Coleman, Teas, Rachel Purdy (sophomore, Ankeny), and Sam Retz (sophomore, Atkins, Benton HS) went on to place fourth in the 4×200 relay with a time of 1:48.05. Their squad led the first three laps before a dropped baton going into the final leg.
“Those girls really put themselves out there,” said Dunham. “I couldn’t be prouder of them. I told them after the race that things like this happen every day in sports. You just have to pick yourself up and move on.”
Meanwhile, Morgan Darrow (junior, Newell, Storm Lake HS) repeated as the conference shot put champion with a toss of 44-4.75 and was followed by Jess Fevold (junior, Iowa Falls, Webster City HS) and Megan Kittleson (junior, Osage) in sixth (40-7) and seventh (40-5) respectively.
“Morgan is a gamer,” said Dunham. “She came into the meet ranked fourth but stepped up and defended her title today.”
Meanwhile, Megan Stoulil (junior, Pocahontas) automatically qualified for the 55-hurdle finals by winning her heat in a personal-best time of 8.66 seconds. Caitlin Wilson (junior, Oakland, Riverside HS) finished fourth (2,936 points) in the pentathlon while Morgan Sharp (sophomore, Grinnell) was seventh (2,416 points) in her combined events debut.
Mel McDermott (sophomore, Britt, West Hancock HS) took sixth in the 5,000 meters (18:34.31), while the distance medley team of Molly Von Holten (senior, Walnut, Bureau Valley HS), Miranda Wehde (freshman, Tipton), Kaity Sharp (freshman, Dike, Dike-New Hartford HS), and Sara Crippen (senior, Williamsburg) took fifth (12:54.99).
The meet resumes at 9 a.m. Saturday with the weight throw and triple jump and running events kick off at noon with the Mile run.
“Every day of any conference meet is a wild ride,” said Dunham. “Just like any other year, we had our ups and downs, but I’m pleased with where we are after one day. Tomorrow we’re going to come back with a lot of intensity. It’s going to be fun.”
