Dutch within striking distance at league track meet
Central College
WAVERLY — The Central College men’s track and field team won two events and is only three points out of first place through six events at the Iowa Conference indoor championship, while the Central women sit fourth and won two events Friday.
On the men’s side Wartburg holds a slim lead with 53 points while the Dutch are close behind with 50. Dubuque sits in third with 33 points and Coe is in fourth with 31.
Through seven events on the women’s side Wartburg leads the way with 62 points followed by Luther with 48.5. Central and Loras are tied for third with 47 points, less than two points behind the Norse.
“I thought it was a good first day,” said coach Joe Dunham. “I’m really happy with how our athletes competed. We just need to bring the intensity and step it up tomorrow.”
The action resumes Saturday morning at 9 a.m. in Waverly.
Larson, distance medley relay lead the way for the Central men – Multi-eventer Eric Larson (senior, Waverly, Waverly-Shell Rock HS) won the long jump with a leap of 23 feet 7.5 inches, which ranks fourth in Division III. He also placed fifth in the pole vault.
“Eric Larson had a huge day,” said Dunham.
The Dutch distance medley relay team of Jamie Vander Veer (senior, Harvey, Knoxville HS), Spencer Hammack (junior, Ottumwa), Drew Jackson (senior, Johnston) and Eli Horton (senior, Runnells, Southeast Polk HS) won the event in 10 minutes, 3.52 seconds. Their time is faster than the converted time they ran in Boston two weeks ago and is in the top 10 in Division III this season.
Gunnar Johnson (senior, Ankeny, Johnston HS) stepped up big in the shot put Friday. He earned all-conference honors with a toss of 49-7.
“I was proud of our team captain Gunnar Johnson for placing third in the shot put,” said Dunham.
The Dutch have three of the top seven heptathlon scores through four of the seven events. Conner Freeman (senior, Urbandale) sits in second place with 2,691 points, trailing the leader by 29. He placed in the top two out of 13 competitors in three of the four events Friday.
Jaemin Powell (junior, Wellman, Mid-Prairie HS) is in fifth place with 2,594 points and Reese Iversen (freshman, Grimes, Dallas Center-Grimes HS) sits in sixth place with 2,544. Powell finished first in the high jump with a leap of 21-1.25. The final three heptathlon events, the 60-meter hurdles, the pole vault and the 1,000-meter run, will take place Saturday.
In the 5,000-meter run Central had two of the top three finishers with Cole Decker (junior, Des Moines, Dowling Catholic HS) taking second in 14:54.23 and Isaac Steffensmeier (sophomore, St. Paul, Fort Madison HS) placing third in 15:58.10.
The prelims for the 60-meter hurdles saw Dan Roemerman (junior, Iowa City, City HS) and Larson qualify for Saturday’s finals.
Women break two school records – The 4×200 meter relay team of Abi Davis (junior, Des Moines, Dowling Catholic HS), Allie McBroom (senior, Runnells, Southeast Polk HS), Kate Patton (freshman, Murray), and Meredith Zimmerman (senior, Urbandale) won the title in a school-record time of 1:43.51.
Zimmerman set a second school record in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.97 seconds, which ranks tied for 14th in Division III. She qualified for Saturday’s finals along with Abby Saladino (junior, Long Grove, North Scott HS), who placed seventh in 9.50.
“Meredith ran a great time in the 60 hurdles,” said Dunham. “She also ran a 25.9 split anchoring the 4×200 relay. She’s having a big weekend so far.”
Ashlee Downs (junior, Urbandale, Valley HS) won the long jump with a leap of 17-5.25 and Taylor Beckman (senior, Panora) was right behind her in second with a career-best jump of 17-2.25.
“Ashlee Downs and Taylor Beckman really competed hard in the long jump,” said Dunham. “I was proud of their performances today.”
Two Central sprinters qualified for the finals in the 60-meter dash Friday. Davis had the top prelim time in 7.77 and Patton also qualified with a 7.95.
Central had three performers place in the top eight in the women’s pentathlon. Emma Drees (sophomore, Waukee) earned all-conference honors with 3,082 points and a third place finish. She won the 60-meter hurdles in 9.86 seconds. Morgan Koenigs (sophomore, Mapleton, Maple Valley-Anthon Oto HS) was right behind Drees in fourth place with 3,038 points and Kaitlyn Gillett (senior, Cedar Falls) took eighth with 2,649 points.
