Central track and field men win crown, women third at Dutch Athletics Classic
Central College
PELLA — The Central College track and field teams excelled on their home track Saturday at the Dutch Athletics Classic, with the men’s squad winning the crown and the women’s team taking third.
In the 11-team field, the Dutch men finished on top with 131 points, and carried a 35-point margin over second place William Penn. The women scored 108 points, taking third place five points behind champion Grand View.
Competing for just the second time this semester, the Dutch are focused on improving each week for the duration of the season.
“I sound like a broken record, but these early meets are part of the process in getting ready for the Iowa Conference meet,” coach Joe Dunham said. “We saw performances that were very good considering where we’re at.”
Dutch men take crown—
Dan Roemerman (senior, Iowa City) led a trio of Dutch hurdlers in the 60 meter hurdles, taking first in 8.32 seconds. Roemerman, Hunter Pollpeter (sophomore, Fort Madison), and Reese Iversen (sophomore, Grimes, Iowa, Dallas Center-Grimes HS) combined to score 21 points. Pollpeter took third in 8.75 and Iversen was fourth in 8.78
“All three of them ran really well in the hurdles,” Dunham said. “I was really pleased with all of them.”
Winning the high jump for the second straight weekend, Logan Mulford (junior, Mt. Pleasant) reached 6 feet, 8.25 inches. Mulford hit 6-9.75 a week away and nearly matched that mark again.
“Logan had another great weekend,” Dunham said. “He didn’t quite jump as high as he did last weekend, but he was very close.”
Central’s men throwers had a big day in the shot put and weight throw, scoring 19 points across the two events, highlighted by Nathan Fitzgerald’s (freshman, Elkader, Iowa, Central Elkader) runner-up finish in the shot put. Fitzgerald uncorked a toss of 46-0.
“I thought our men’s throwers did a fantastic job,” Dunham said.
Sprinters propel Dutch to third-place finish—
Four Central sprinters placed in the 60 meter dash, led by Abi Davis (senior, West Des Moines, Dowling Catholic HS) who won in 7.77 seconds. Ashlee Downs (senior, Urbandale, Iowa, West Des Moines Valley HS) took third in the finals in 8.02, but ran a 7.97 in the preliminaries, one of the 10 fastest marks in school history.
“Ashlee Downs had a great day in the 60,” Dunham said. “She had the fourth-fastest time in the history of our school and that’s not necessarily an event that she focus on. I was happy to see her have some great success.
Downs and Davis were joined by Hope Heitman (freshman, Guttenberg, Iowa, Clayton Ridge HS) and Kate Patton (sophomore, Murray) to win the 4×400 meter relay in 4:00.31.
Maddie Smith (sophomore, Cedar Falls) and Whitney Burgardt (freshman, Britt, Iowa, West Hancock HS), finished as placewinners in the 60 meter hurdles. Smith took fourth (9.84) and Burgardt took sixth (9.93).
“All of our women’s hurdlers had great days today,” Dunham said.
Freshman Marissa Johnson (Carlisle) had a career day in the high jump, reaching 5 feet, 1.75 inches.
Central hits the road next weekend, both teams are headed to Waverly for the Wartburg Select on Friday and Saturday.
