Three Central athletes named conference performers of the week
Central College
PELLA—Central College women’s track sprinter Abi Davis (sophomore, Des Moines, Dowling Catholic HS) raced to her second consecutive Iowa Conference track events performer of the week award, while men’s track thrower Steven Messerschmidt (senior, Neola, Tri-Center HS) and softball first baseman Kaitlyn Matzen (Manly, Central Springs HS) each earned their first recognition.
Dutch tracksters take two again—It’s the second consecutive week Dutch track athletes have taken two of the four weekly awards.
Competing at Wednesday’s Central Open, Davis won the 100-meter dash in 12.14 seconds, a mere 0.03 seconds off of the school record set by Felicia Coleman in 2012. The personal record is the top-ranked time in the conference and No. 12 nationally.
Davis also won the 200-meter dash in 25.50 seconds, edging teammate Monica Ruiz (sophomore, Hudson) by 0.94 seconds.
It’s Davis’ third career league weekly honor as a member of the Dutch track team.
It was a hat trick for Messerschmidt at the home open, winning the shot put, discus throw and hammer throw en route to field events performer of the week.
His mark of 48-11.75 in the shot is third in the league, grouped with marks of 139-5 in the discus and 177-4 in the hammer. Messerschmidt remained first in the hammer and fourth in the discus from previous meets.
It’s Messerschmidt’s first career conference weekly honor.
The full Central track squads return to action Wednesday through Saturday at the Drake Relays. Athletes will also compete at the Kip Janvrin Open Friday and Saturday.
Matzen hits .714 in twin bill—Matzen was named position player of the week after leading the No. 12-ranked Dutch softball team offensively in its weekend doubleheader. She finished with five hits in seven at-bats for a .714 average with two doubles, two runs batted in and one run scored while slugging 1.000 without recording a single error.
Matzen is third on the team in doubles with seven and upped her batting average to .361.
It’s Matzen’s first career league weekly honor.
The Dutch return to the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex softball field Tuesday against Coe College in a battle of top-12 teams. The No. 9-ranked Kohawks sit atop the league standings, while the No. 12-ranked Dutch are one game back in second.
