Drake Relays opens for Dutch with Fairley in 5K
Central Dutch Athletics
DES MOINES — A huge improvement in the 5,000-meter run by Mark Fairley (senior, Dubuque) was the only entrant in the Drake Relays for the Central College men’s track and field Thursday night.
Competing in the unseeded division of the 5,000 meters, Fairley clocked in at 14 minutes, 42.67 seconds to place 13th. His previous-best outdoor time in the race was 15:13.39 two years ago at the Jim Duncan Invitational.
“He approached the race really well and ran smart,” coach Joe Dunham said. “It got a little faster than he was ready for so he had to adjust halfway through the race to recover from the really fast first three or four laps.”
Fairley moved up to No. 4 on Central’s all-time list behind a trio of recent All-Americans, Eli Horton ‘15 (14:11.28), Cole Decker ‘16, (14:11.31) and Austin O’Brien ’14 (14:24.94).
“Anytime you get on the top-10 list within our distance program is a really big deal,” Dunham said. “It’s good to see him get some confidence going into the final few weeks of the season.”
Fairley will run the anchor leg of the distance medley relay on Saturday night as one of three relays the Dutch men will run over the next two days. Central’s women’s team will also have several relays competing in Des Moines the next two days.
Dutch alums compete in decathlon – Forced to drop out of the final event due to injury, Kurtis Brondyke ’11 still managed a second-place finish at the Drake Relays decathlon Thursday.
Brondyke, currently an assistant coach at the University of Central Missouri, built up a lead of 580 points after nine events and nearly held on to first place even after the injury. Derek Jacobus, an unattached athlete from the University of Arkansas, was the winner with 7,198 points. Brondyke ended the day with 7,097 points in nine disciplines.
One of just nine athletes to ever win multiple Drake Relays decathlon titles, Brondyke was going for his third title after previously winning in 2014 and 2017.
Brondyke was the top finisher in six of his nine events and was in the top three of two others. He won the long jump with a career-best jump of 23 feet, 11 inches and also clocked a new career-fastest 400-meter dash time of 50.06 seconds.
“Kurtis was such a huge part of our program when he was at Central,” Dunham said. “It’s a pretty amazing performance for him to be in such a good position even after pulling out of the last event. We’re extremely proud of everything he’s accomplished.
Another Central alum, Peter Wagner ’03, placed fourth with 6,488 points. An NCAA Division III champion in the decathlon in 2001 and 2003, Wagner also placed fourth in 2002 during his junior season at Central College.
