Four Dutch athletes headed to NCAA track national meet
Central Dutch Athletics
PELLA — It will be a contingent of four representing the Central College track and field program next weekend in La Crosse, Wisconsin at the NCAA Division III track and field championships.
The elite field was announced Saturday. The top 20 performers in each men’s event and top-22 in each women’s event were accepted for the meet.
Mark Fairley (senior, Dubuque) is the Division III leader in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 8:57.39. The runner-up in this event in 2017, Fairley is one of only two athletes to go under nine minutes this season. Sophomore Will Daniels (Geneseo, Ill.) won the heptathlon national title at the indoor meet and will take a crack at the decathlon. He is seeded No. 4 with 6,673 points. Ryan Kruse (senior, St. Clair, Minn.) will close out his Central career in the javelin throw after qualifying 16th (200 feet, 11 inches).
In the women’s competition, Evie Kammeyer (senior, Urbandale) qualified in the 3000-meter steeplechase. She enters the weekend rated No. 20 in the country with a time of 10:48.93 that set a new school record. The Iowa Conference runner-up is making her debut at the national meet.
The national meet is being staged on the campus of the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The facility last hosted the national meet in 2013 when Central’s Eric Larson ‘15 won a national title in the decathlon.
