Teddy Clark Oct. 13, 2007

Career-best times abound for Central

WEST SALEM, WIS.—The Central College cross country teams saw a slew of career-best records fall as the women placed 13th and the men took 15th at the Jim Drews/Tori Neubauer Invitational Saturday.

Returning NCAA Division III meet qualifier Angie Berry (sophomore, Norwalk) was back in the Central lineup and led the women’s team with a ninth-place finish and a 6,000 meter career-best time of 22:33. That’s 32 seconds below her previous best of 23:05 at last year’s NCAA Division III Central Regional meet at Northfield, Minn. She was third among Iowa Conference runners Saturay. Hannah Anderson (junior, Goodell, Garner-Hayfield HS) placed 47th at 23:38, Jess Clark (Port Byron, Ill.) placed 65th at 23:50, Amy Ledvina (sophomore, Toledo, South Tama HS) notched a career-best time at 24:08 and placed 86th, Amber Mayer (sophomore, Essex) placed 103rd at 24:25, Connie Eshelman (junior, Bridgewater, Nodaway Valley HS) had a career-best timeat 24:30 and placed 109th and Jenni Hufford (sophomore, Polk City, Ankeny) placed 138th at 25:04.

Central finished 13th with 310 points. The University of Minnesota won the meet with 120 points while Wis.-Eau Claire was the top Division III finisher, placing third with 141 points. Nationally ranked Iowa Conference rivals Luther and Wartburg were eighth and ninth, respectively, in the powerful 27-team field.

“The conditions today were beneficial, and we took a great step forward in the right direction,” said head coach Dave Paulsen. “We are competing better and getting to the next runner in front us.”

Clark leads men--Teddy Clark (junior, Montgomery, Ill.) paced the men’s squad with a season-best 8,000-meter time of 27:46 and a 99th-place finish. Pierre Taylor (sophomore, Oswego, Ill.) placed 100th with a season-best 27:49, Jaron Byrum (Mount Union, New London HS) placed 130th with a season-best 28:35, Austin Vondracek (freshman, Swisher, Cedar Rapids Prairie HS) placed 135th with a career-best time of 28:39, Cory Fitzsimmons (sophomore, Pella) placed 137th with a career-best time of 28:42, Chase Ungs (senior, Ames, Gilbert HS) placed 143rd (28:58) and Tyler Husak (junior, Montour, South Tama HS) placed 145th (29:09).

Central finished with 601 points for 15th in a 25-team field. Host Wis.-La Crosse won the meet with 75 points. Iowa Conference rival Wartburg was eighth with 185 points.

“We ran pretty well today,” said Paulsen. “We had a bunch of season-best times. We did a great job of focusing in and put our poor showing last week behind us. It was a big step mentally as we were ready to run and competed hard.”

The Dutch begin preparations for the Iowa Conference championship meet in Dubuque Oct. 27 in Dubuque at 11 a.m. Central’s women will seek to improve on last year’s sixth-place showing. Clark was the top league finisher for the Dutch, finishing 17th. The Central men were third in the league last year but graduated their top four league finishers. Byrum is the top returnee, placing 28th last season.