Youth impressive for Central women at pre-Christmas track meet
Central Dutch Athletics
PELLA — Inexperience was no matter for the Central College women’s indoor track and field team as a strong contingent of underclassmen highlighted the Dutch Holiday Preview Saturday.
No team scores were kept in the first of four meets held at H.S. Kuyper Fieldhouse this season.
“We’re really trying to figure out where we are at with the women’s team,” head coach Joe Dunham said. “We’re happy with what we saw out of our younger athletes.”
Freshmen Mary Gray (West Des Moines, Waukee HS) and Kiki Pingel (Pella) had strong 60-meter hurdles outings in their first home meets. Gray took the title in 9.34 seconds with Pingel slotting in at fourth in 9.89 seconds.
“Mary looked really strong,” Dunham said. “She recognized she didn’t have the great start, but I was really pleased with how she finished. Kiki will continue to get better as she gets more opportunities.”
Gray ran the second leg of the winning 4×400-meter relay squad that crossed the line in 4 minutes, 7.49 seconds. The other runners on the relay were Paige Doehrmann (sophomore, Lone Tree), Lynzie Miller (junior, Des Moines, Lincoln HS) and Hope Heitman (junior, Guttenberg, Clayton Ridge HS)
Despite placing second, triple jumper Holly Forrester (Manhattan, Kan. Rock Creek HS) launched her way to the No. 6 spot in program history after she reached 33-10.75.
“We kind of knew that coming in that she could do that,” Dunham said. “We feel like she has a great upside. We can’t wait to see what happens with her.”
Weight thrower Emily Burt (sophomore, Freeport, Ill.) also joined Central’s top-10 list after unleashing an effort of 45 feet, 7.75 inches to place third. Freshman Kennedy Morris (Earlham) debuted with a 44-3.25 toss to take fifth.
“We’re excited about our entire group of women’s throwers,” coach Joe Dunham said. “Kennedy would have been on the top-10 list before Emily knocked her off.”
Evie Kammeyer (senior, Urbandale) got it started quickly for the Dutch with a time of 11 minutes, 4.83 seconds in the 3,000-meter run, the first race of the day. Central also got strong performances in the mile run from Holly McKinney (senior, Truro, Interstate 35 HS) and Lauren Moll (sophomore, Faribault, Minn.), who went 1-2 in 5:30.31 and 5:35.41, respectively.
Central will return after the Christmas break and travel to Lincoln, Neb. for the Prairie Wolf Invitational on Friday, January 19.
“It was a fantastic day today,” Dunham said. “We have a long break now. The key will be what they do over the next three weeks.”
