Central rolls to three wins in first day
Central College
MOUNT VERNON—The Central College men’s and women’s track teams came away with three wins in their first day of competition at the Iowa Conference championships Friday.
Through six and seven events respectively, the men’s squad is positioned in second place with 56 points while the women’s team is in third with 37. Wartburg is currently leading the men’s title race with 61.5 points and sits atop the women’s scoreboard with 105 points.
“There’s a lot of build-up to this meet every year,” said coach Joe Dunham. “It always brings out the best in us and it did that again tonight.”
Men shatter relay record—The Dutch capped the first day of competition with an impressive showing in the 4×200-meter relay. The foursome of Kyle Wood (senior, Newton), Logan Danko (junior, Centerville), Trevor Veach (senior, Grinnell), and Allen Scovel (senior, Runnells, Southeast Polk HS) scorched the field and finished in a school-record time of one minute, 28.6 seconds. That mark was almost a full second faster than the previous record of 1:29.52 by Tommy Tavegia, Adam Hartford, Tony Brownlee, and Chris McCullough set in 2000.
“The guys ran an amazing relay,” said Dunham. “They had clean handoffs all the way around and were running on all cylinders.”
Aaron Fuller (junior, Aberdeen, S.D., Roncalli HS) added another win to the Dutch tally in the pole vault after a clearance of 14 feet, 3.25 inches and Phil Miller (senior, Vinton, Vinton-Shellsburg HS) took the shot put crown in with a mark of 51-8.5.
“Winning an event at conference is a feat,” said Dunham. “Both Aaron and Phil came ready to compete today.”
Steve Messerschmidt (sophomore, Neola, Tri-Center HS) followed Miller for a 1-2 finish in the shot put (48-4), while the distance medley team of Jamie Vander Veer (freshman, Knoxville), Brian Green (freshman, Lake City, South Central Calhoun HS), Alex Edwards (freshman, Knoxville), and Andrew Hamer (senior, Murray) was edged at the line to take second (10:29.48). Freshmen Eli Horton (Runnells, Southeast Polk HS) and Drew Jackson (Johnston) took fourth (15:28.49) and seventh (15:33.73) in the 5,000 meters. Green was sixth in the long jump (21-0.75).
The Dutch placed a trio of men in the 60 meter finals, with Scovel placing second (7.01), Danko taking sixth (7.15), and Mitch Wagoner (sophomore, Iowa Falls, Iowa Falls-Alden HS) finishing eighth (7.17) in the preliminary round. And after five events in the heptathlon, Central has three in scoring position. Breighen Powell (senior, Wellman, Mid-Prairie HS) is the current leader (2,833 points), with Eric Larson (freshman, Waverly, Waverly-Shell Rock HS) and Fuller in second (2,679 points) and sixth (2,258 points), respectively. Larson also finished sixth in the 60 hurdles prelims (8.59) to advance to Saturday’s final.
“I was very proud of how the men came out and fought,” said Dunham. “They’ve had to overcome a lot of adversity this season with some key injuries. But you wouldn’t know that from watching them today.”
Pierce impresses in Central debut—Freshman Bryanna Pierce (St. Clair, Mo.) wasted no time making her presence felt on the track and field scene, taking third place in the shot put (42-11.5) and vaulting herself into a tie for 13th place in the national rankings. Peirce joined the Dutch squad this week at the conclusion of her basketball season.
“We all saw tonight that Bry is a fierce competitor,” said Dunham. “A week ago she was playing basketball and today she is one of the best shot putters in Division III.”
The Dutch scored a trio of athlete in the pentathlon, with Caitlin Wilson (senior, Oakland, Riverside HS) taking second (3,266 points), Felicia Shunk (senior, Bloomfield, Davis County HS) finishing sixth (2749), and Morgan Sharp (junior, Grinnell) placing eighth (2719). Sharp was also fifth in the long jump (16-7.75), while Liz Hasenmiller (senior, Bettendorf, Davenport Assumption HS) took seventh in the pole vault (9-00.25). Shelby Mendoza (sophomore, Norwalk) was seventh in the 5,000 meters (18:59.64), and Felicia Coleman (junior, Houston, Texas, J. Frank Dobie HS) finished fifth in the 60 meter prelims (7.96) to advance to Saturday’s finals.
“Morgan Sharp had a busy day in the pentathlon,” said Dunham. “And she followed it up with a great long jump. That’s no easy task.”
The 4×200 relay team of Coleman, Rachel Northrup (freshman, Griswold), Rachel Purdy (junior, Ankeny), and Miranda Wehde (sophomore, Tipton) took runner-up honors (1:46.51), while the distance medley squad of Kaity Sharp (sophomore, Dike, Dike-New Hartford), Camie Kibbee (freshman, Mason City), Emily Saville (freshman, Cedar Rapids, Linn-Mar HS), and Alyssa Eaves (freshman, Johnston) was sixth (13:19.53).
“The women have had to forge an identity with a young squad over the past six weeks,” said Dunham. “It was great to see them gel today.”
Competition resumes Saturday at 9 a.m. with combined events and field events. Running events are slated to start at noon.
