Jaron Byrum Oct. 27, 2007

Central takes sixth at conference meet

DUBUQUE—A career-best effort by Central College’s Angie Berry (sophomore, Norwalk) gave her a second-place finish at the Iowa Conference women’s cross country championships Saturday.

The Dutch women were third in the team standings while Central was sixth in the men’s race.

Berry’s 6,000-meter time of 22:30 was 20 seconds behind winner Janet Dobyns of Luther. She outdistanced third-place Emily VanOosbree of Wartburg by 37 seconds.

Berry’s second-place finish was Central’s highest since Ingrid Elvebak placed second in 1986. The time eclipsed her 25:18 mark in last year’s conference meet at Iowa City where she finished fifth. Her previous career best was 22:33 at the Tori Neubauer Invitational in West Salem, Wis. Oct. 13.

“Angie knocked a couple of seconds of her season-best time and I think this was a more challenging course,” said head coach David Paulsen. “She is looking good at the right time of the year.”

Teammate Hannah Anderson (junior, Goodell, Garner-Hayfield HS) followed in  20th in 24:19 with Jess Clark (junior, Port Byron, Ill.) 21st (24:22), Amy Ledvina (sophomore, Toledo, South Tama HS) 23rd (24:24)—up 11 spots from last year’s league meet--and Connie Eshelman (junior, Bridgewater, Nodaway Valley HS) 43rd (25:18). 

“The women did a fantastic job of competing,” said Paulsen. “They did a great job of pushing through the pain to get the job done.”

Luther won the meet with 38 points to notch their fourth title in five years. Wartburg was second with 52 while Central had 87. Loras was fourth with 101 followed by Simpson with 104, Cornell with 168, Coe with 189 and Buena Vista with 250. Dubuque did not compete.

Byrum paces men—Jaron Byrum (junior, Mount Union, New London HS) led the Dutch men with a 25th-place finish in an 8,000-meter season-best time 27:56. He was 28th in last year’s league meet.

Pierre Taylor (sophomore, Oswego, Ill.) was 39th in 28:24 with Chase Ungs (senior, Ames, Gilbert HS) 42nd (28:33), Teddy Clark (junior, Montgomery, Ill.) 54th (29:03) and Cory Fitzsimmons (sophomore, Pella) 55th (29:04).

Luther’s Matthew Busche took first in the meet with a time of 25:31 as the Norse won with 38 points to claim their second consecutive title.

Wartburg was second with 48 points, with Loras at 87, Coe at 101, Simpson at 142, Central at 170, Cornell at 190, Buena Vista at 219 and Dubuque at 263.

“The men did a great job of competing even though things didn’t pan out as well as we would have liked,” said Paulsen. “They left it all on the course and that’s all you can ask for.”

Both teams return to action Nov. 10 in the NCAA Division III Central Regional in Northfield, Minn. which will determine qualifiers for the Nov. 17 national meet, also in Northfield. Berry is a returning NCAA qualifier and all-region honoree.

“Since the competition is so good at our conference meet, I think we will be well prepared to run in the regional meet,” said Paulsen. “It gives us a nice edge at the championship-time of the season.”