Dutch track and field squads tune up for conference meet
Central College
IOWA CITY—The Central College men’s and women’s track and field squads concluded the indoor regular season at the Iowa Invitational Friday night.
No team scores were kept.
Horton leaps into national rankings—Sophomore Eli Horton (Runnells, Southeast Polk HS) scored a big personal best in the Mile run, crossing the line in second place with a time of four minutes, 13.02 seconds. That mark was more than a six-second improvement over his previous best and places him ninth in Division III.
“Eli really got after it today,” said coach Joe Dunham. “It was a real breakthrough race for him.”
Cody Doughan (junior, Bettendorf, Pleasant Valley HS) took second in the 3,000 meters (8:49.81) while Eric Larson (sophomore, Waverly, Waverly-Shell Rock HS) was third in the 60 hurdles final (8.5). Dan Roemerman (freshman, Iowa City, City HS) took fifth in the final, but blazed to a personal best of 8.39 seconds in the preliminary round. The 4×400-meter team of Drake Hickok (freshman, Cedar Rapids, Washington HS), Ben Schornack (senior, Urbandale), Phil Heisterkamp (senior, Jefferson, Jefferson-Scranton HS), and Mason Zimmerman (sophomore, Urbandale) took third (3:26.83).
Coleman captures victory in the 400 meters—Senior Felicia Coleman (Houston, Texas, J. Frank Dobie HS) scored another win in her only event Friday, this time taking the 400 meters in a personal-best time of 58.5 seconds.
Elsewhere, Hillary Hotz (sophomore, Fort Dodge, St. Edmond HS) cleared a personal-best five feet, 3.75 inches in the high jump and narrowly missed an attempt at 5-5.75. A clearance at that height would have tied her for 13th in Division III.
“Hillary is on the verge of a big breakthrough,” said Dunham. “She had some great attempts at her last height.”
Sara Mueller (sophomore, Urbandale) was third in the 800 meters (2:23.87), and the 4×400 relay team of Melanie Nielson (freshman, Atlantic), Taylor Beckman (sophomore, Panora, Panorama HS), Rachel Purdy (senior, Ankeny), and Camie Kibbee (sophomore, Mason City) took third (4:08.82).
The Dutch will travel to Dubuque for the Iowa Conference championship meet next Friday and Saturday hosted by the University of Dubuque. The multi-event competition is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Friday with field events slated for 2 p.m. and running events beginning at 6 p.m. The two-day meet will conclude Saturday.
Central’s men placed second last year after winning titles in 2010 and 2011. The Dutch women were third in 2012.
“We have high expectations for next weekend,” said Dunham. “This has been our focus the entire indoor season and we’re excited to see how things play out.”
