Dutch track and field squads compete in Missouri

Central College

ST. LOUIS, MO.—A partial squad of distance runners and multi-eventers competed for the Central College men’s and women’s track and field program at the Washington University (Mo.) Invitational Friday night.

The men’s 5,000-meter run saw a number of good performances, most notably from Eli Horton (sophomore, Runnells, Southeast Polk HS) and Cole Decker (freshman, Des Moines, West Des Moines Dowling HS). Horton finished fourth in a time of 14 minutes, 33.77 seconds, while Decker crossed the line in sixth with a time of 14:36.59. Those marks rank second and third on the early-season Division III performance list.

“A lot of good things happened in the men’s 5k,” said coach Joe Dunham. “Overall five of our seven distance runners had personal bests tonight.”

Results for the multi-event competition were unavailable, but newly-minted national champion Eric Larson (sophomore, Waverly, Waverly-Shell Rock HS) is in second place after one day of competition in the decathlon.

“We had several really strong efforts across the board today,” said Dunham.

The decathlon competition will resume Saturday at 9:30 a.m. while the heptathlon is slated to start at 9:45 a.m.