Dutch take three events in outdoor track opener
Central College
ROCK ISLAND, ILL.—The Central College men’s and women’s track and field squads took advantage of unseasonably warm weather and scored three victories in their first meet outdoor of the outdoor season at the Augustana College (Ill.) Viking Open Saturday.
The Dutch men accumulated 125 points to take third in the team standings, while the Central women were fourth with 127 points. Wis.-Whitewater took the men’s title with 251.5 points and host Augustana won the women’s trophy with 200.5 points.
Mostly clear skies, little to no wind and 70 degree conditions produced an ideal day for good performances.
“I can’t remember the last time we’ve had an outdoor meet in March with this kind of weather,” said coach Joe Dunham. “You only have so many days like this every year so I’m glad we were able to take advantage of it.”
Meet record falls for Central men—The 4×800 relay squad of Austin O’Brien (sophomore, Bettendorf, Pleasant Valley HS), Ben Schornack (junior, Urbandale), Jamie Vander Veer (freshman, Knoxville), and LJ Lipscomb (freshman, Johnston) got the men’s squad off to a fast start in the first running event of the day. Their winning time of seven minutes, 50.56 set a new meet record.
“We saw some great things from our middle distance group,” said Dunham. “I was very happy to see our men’s 4×800 relay run that well.”
The Dutch got a third-place finish (42.03) from the 4×100 relay of Trevor Veach (senior, Grinnell), Logan Danko (junior, Centerville), Kyle Wood (senior, Newton), and Allen Scovel (senior, Runnells, Southeast Polk HS). Wood, Danko, and Scovel went on to place third (11.11), fourth (11.19), and fifth (11.22) respectively in the 100 meters.
“We had some solid sprint times but Landon Coker but really stood out as young guy,” said Dunham.
Coker finished in a tie for seventh in a personal-best time of 11.28.
Alex Edwards (freshman, Knoxville) took runner-up honors in the 800 with a personal-best time of 1:53.92 while Eli Horton (freshman, Runnells, Southeast Polk HS) was the runner-up in the 3,000 meters with a time of 8:39.29.
Notable throwing performances include a pair of personal bests for Phil Miller (senior, Vinton, Vinton-Shellsburg HS) in the shot put (50-3.25, second) and discus (144-5, fourth). Josh Fleming (junior, Caseyville, Ill., Collinsville HS) was third in the discus (147-6), Steve Messerschmidt (sophomore, Neola, Tri-Center HS) was fifth in the shot put (47-8), Tyler Crouse (senior, Hedrick, Pekin HS) was fifth in the hammer throw (174-3) and Breighen Powell (senior, Wellman, Mid-Prairie HS) was third in the javelin (167-7).
“We had seven personal bests in the throwing events today,” said Dunham. “It was a great way for then to get the season started.”
Darrow returns for Dutch—Senior Morgan Darrow (senior, Newell, Storm Lake HS) made her season debut Saturday, winning the hammer throw (157-7) and taking second in the shot put (42-0.75). Darrow exhausted her indoor eligibility last year but has one final season of outdoor eligibility.
“Morgan hasn’t put on a uniform in a while but looked good in her first meet of the year,” said Dunham. “It was nice to have her back.”
Felicia Coleman (junior, Houston, Texas, J. Frank Dobie HS) added another victory for the Dutch in the 200 meters (25.34) and was on the third-place 4×100 relay (49.69). Caitlin Wilson (senior, Oakland, Riverside HS) was second in the javelin (105-1), fourth in the long jump (16-1.75) and fifth in the 100 hurdles (16.47).
“Caitlin had a good all-around day,” said Dunham. “She had a lot of momentum from the indoor national meet and it looks like that’s going to continue.”
Mel McDermott (junior, Britt, West Hancock HS) was second (10:56.73) in the 3,000 meters with Emma Nelson (sophomore, Pekin) taking fourth (11:08.27).
“Emma and Alyssa ran great in the 3k,” said Dunham.
Eaves clocked in at 11:19.47 and finished seventh.
Hillary Hotz (freshman, Fort Dodge, St. Edmond HS) was second in the high jump (5-1.75), Morgan Sharp (junior, Grinnell) took fifth in the long jump (16-1.75) and Jessy Stika (junior, Cresco, Crestwood, HS) was fifth in the discus (126-2). Kaity Sharp (sophomore, Dike, Dike-New Hartford HS), Sara Mueller (freshman, Urbandale), and Emily Saville (freshman, Cedar Rapids, Linn-Mar HS) placed third (2:24.29), fourth (2:25.36), and fifth (2:26.61) respectively in the 800 meters, while Maggie Wehde (senior, Tipton) was third in the 400 hurdles (1:09.91). That foursome combined to finish fourth in the 4×400 relay in a time of 4:12.31.
The Dutch will play host to the Central Invitational next Saturday at Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium in Pella. Events are slated to begin at 11 a.m.
“I’m really excited to have a home meet and compete in front of our fans,” said Dunham. “We should have some good competition.”
