Angie Berry Aug. 28, 2007

Central stages invitationl

PELLA—It’s a home meet but much will be unfamiliar when the Central College men’s and women’s cross country teams toe the starting line at Satuday’s Central Invitational.

The season-opening races will be staged at the college’s campus course at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex.

Seven men’s and women’s collegiate teams are expected with boys’ and girls’ high school titles being contested as well. Joining Central in the collegiate field are William Penn, Grand View and Simpson along with a pair of junior colleges, Southwestern and Iowa Central. Peru State (Neb.) will also enter a squad in the women’s race.

The 5,000-meter women’s race starts at 9:30 a.m. with the 6,000-meter men’s race at 10:15 a.m. A 5,000-meter boys’ junior varsity high school race is set for 11 a.m. with the boys’ varsity race at 11:30, while a 4,000-meter girls’ junior varsity high school race starts at noon and the girls’ varsity race is at 12:30 p.m. Results will be posted Saturday afternoon at www.central.edu/athletics.

Saturday’s meet marks the debut of new Dutch coach David Paulsen and seniors will be scarce in the Central lineups. There are no seniors on the women’s roster and just three on the men’s.

“I’m excited,” Paulsen said. “It’s our first meet and it’s on our home course. It should be fun.”

Inexperienced men’s squad--The Dutch men were third in a nine-team field at the Central meet last season. Four of last year’s top seven runners have graduated, including NCAA Division III meet qualifier Adam Wolf.

Back for the Dutch are Jaron Byrum (junior, Mount Union, New London HS), Teddy Clark (junior, Montgomery, Ill., Oswego HS) and Pierre Taylor (sophomore, Oswego, Ill.) Also returning are seniors Brett Dietrich (Williamsburg) and Chase Ungs (Ames, Gilbert HS), who both missed most of the 2006 campaign with injuries.

“The guys did a great job of training this summer and came in in really good shape,” Paulsen said. “We just had a really hard workout and they performed very well. I’ve been pleasantly surprised. I’m excited to see how our top five and top seven shake out this week.”

Berry returns for women—For the first time since 1990, the Central women’s squad has a returning national meet qualifier. Angie Berry (sophomore, Norwalk) was the top freshman finisher at last year’s NCAA Division III championship meet, finishing 37th overall. Berry is among six returning runners from the top seven on Central’s 2006 squad.

Also returning are Jessica Clark (junior, Port Byron, Ill., Riverdale HS), Amy Ledvina (sophomore, Toledo, South Tama HS), Amber Mayer (sophomore, Essex, Shenandoah HS), Rachelle Tipton (sophomore, Newton) and  Kelsey Tompkins (sophomore, Webster City).

“Our top seven, and really, our top eight, are about as solid as they could be right now,” Paulsen said. “They’ve been battling back and forth in practice. They, too, worked hard in the off-season and came in really prepared.”

Berry is the defending champion in the Central Invitational women’s race. She finished the 5,000-meter course in 19:32 in her collegiate debut.