Dutch women finish runner-up at home track invitational
Central Dutch Athletics
PELLA — Scoring in a variety of areas showed promise for the Central College women’s track and field team as they finished in second place at the Central Invitational Friday.
Central’s 136.5 team points trailed champion Northwestern College’s 185.5 points
An all-Iowa Conference triple jumper during the indoor season, freshman Holly Forrester (Manhattan, Kan., Rock Creek HS) bagged a title in her outdoor debut with a mark of 34 feet, 3.5 inches. Teammate Trenetta Blocker (senior, Chicago, Ill., Mother McAuley HS) was fourth in 32-9.5
“We’ll be looking to her for points in the conference championship,” coach Joe Dunham said. “She came in well-prepared for this first meet and is primed for a good outdoor season.”
Additional field event scorers included high jumper Tori Van Velzen (sophomore, Norwalk) who tied for fourth (4-10.25). Hammer throwers Kennedy Morris (freshman, Earlham) and Emily Burt (sophomore, Freeport, Ill.) were third and eighth at 144-9 and 125-5, respectively. Burt was also sixth in the shot put (38-4.25) and Gillian Streit (freshman, Manilla, Harlan HS) was eighth (36-8.5)
The hurdles yielded 19 points for the Dutch women. Lynzie Miller (junior, Des Moines, Lincoln HS) was third in the 400-meter hurdles (1:08.54) and Jenna Willett (freshman, Conrad, BCLUW HS) was seventh (1:11.97). Whitney Burgardt (junior, Britt, West Hancock HS) was third in the 110-hurdles (16.59 seconds) with Willett on her heels in fourth (16.80 seconds)
“Those technical events have been a surprise this early in the season,” Dunham said. “The hardest thing to overcome is usually the increase in distance from 60 to 100 meters. I’m happy to see them coming along nicely.”
Paige Doehrmann (freshman, Lone Tree), Kate Patton (senior, Murray), Evie Kammeyer (senior, Urbandale) and Anna Shaw (senior, Bettendorf, Morning Star Academy) were fourth in the 4×400-meter relay in a time of (3:32.94). Patton was also sixth in the 200-meter dash (26.96 seconds)
In the distance races, Holly McKinney (senior, St. Charles, Interstate 35 HS) was second in the 5,000-meter run (18:30.14), Sarah Salas (sophomore, Dubuque, Hempstead HS) placed fifth in the 3,000-meter run (12:28.63) and Kammeyer was sixth in the 800-meter run (2:26.07)
Mary Gray’s (freshman, West Des Moines, Waukee HS) total of 4,095 points was the most of Central’s four entrants in the heptathlon and allowed Gray to place fourth.
The Dutch will return to action at the Cornell College Invitational in Mount Vernon, Iowa next weekend.
