Silver returns to steeplechase at Drake Relay
DES MOINES — A returning national qualifier in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Caleb Silver (junior, Conrad, BCLUW HS) contested the event for the second time this spring at the Drake Relays Thursday night.
One of just four Division III athletes in the 41-runner field, Silver took 38th in 9 minutes, 39.93 seconds. Daniel Michalski from Nike was the winner in 8:28.93. Gable Siepreda from Iowa State University was second and the top collegiate runner (8:45.31).
Silver ran his first steeplechase on April 9 and has only one competitive race since then, a 3,000 meters on April 23, due to an injury.
“While the time doesn’t totally reflect it, today was a good day for Caleb,” associate head coach Joe Dunham said. “We are just getting back into consistent training and today was designed to be a little bit of a rust buster for him
“I was happy with his hurdling and all of his water jumps except one. I’m excited to see what he does over the next three weeks. It’s hard to come back physical from an injury but it’s also hard mentally. Today was a very big step mentally for him.”
Central has 10 more entries at the Drake Relays on Friday and Saturday as well as a large contingent of athletes competing at the Kip Janvrin Open in Indianola on Friday.
