Luke Bolander May 19, 2008

Central sends 10 to NCAA meet

PELLA—Guy Dierikx (senior, Port Byron, Ill., Riverdale HS) will bid to become the third four-year all-America honoree in Central College men’s track and field history as the Dutch send 10 athletes in six events to the NCAA Division III men’s and women’s championships this week.    

The meet will be contested Thursday through Saturday at Oshkosh, Wis. on the Wis.-Oshkosh campus at J.J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium, also the site of last year’s meet. The field was announced Sunday afternoon.

Dierikx earned a spot in the 400-meter dash and in the 4x400-meter relay. Others on the relay are Matt Patrick (sophomore, Dallas Center, Dallas Center-Grimes HS), Alex Miller (sophomore, Adel, Van Meter HS) and Luke Bolander (sophomore, Des Moines, East HS).

Also making a return trip is Jason Fisher (senior, Montezuma) in the hammer throw and discus. Meanwhile freshman Kurtis Brondyke (Clinton) makes his NCAA debut in the long jump.

The Central women’s squad qualified in just one event with the 4x400-meter relay team of Emily Teas (freshman, Indianola), Jill Ziskovsky (freshman, Dallas Center, Dallas Center-Grimes HS), Rachelle Tipton (sophomore, Newton) and Kari Hutchinson (senior, Charles City). It’s the second NCAA outdoor meet appearance for Hutchinson.

Dierikx is capping a storied career. He’s earned all-America recognition seven times. He did so as a freshman in 2005 by running on the fifth-place 4x400-meter relay squad. In 2006, he ran on the eighth-place 4x400 unit at the indoor national meet, then was on the sixth-place 4x400 team at the outdoor meet, along with the seventh-place 4x100-meter relay squad.

Last year he was fourth in the 400 meters at the NCAA indoor meet before anchoring Central’s fourth-place 4x400 squad at the indoor meet. Dierikx was fourth in the 400 meters at the indoor meet in March at Ada, Ohio after being named the Iowa Conference indoor meet MVP.

Central’s only previous men’s outdoor track and field athletes to earn all-America distinction all four years were decathletes Sean Clark (1997-2000) and Peter Wagner (2000-03).

Alex Miller running11 straight NCAA berths in 4x400--Miller and Dierikx are the only veterans back from last year’s 4x400 relay unit which placed fourth at the NCAA meet in 3:12.64. Sanger tried various combinations for the other two spots this spring before settling on Patrick and then Bolander. The Dutch qualified by taking first at the Gregory Invitational at Naperville, Ill. Friday night, winning in 3:14.09, well under the season’s previous best, 3:16.54. Central’s time ranks the unit seventh nationally. North Central is the leader at 3:12.79. Sanger said Bolander’s split Friday was more than 2 seconds faster than the time he ran early in the season.

“Luke Bolander really came through,” Sanger said. “A month ago, if you’d asked me who the fourth guy would be, it was a little up in the air. But since then, Luke has dropped a considerable amount of time.”

It’s the 11th consecutive year that the Dutch have gained an outdoor national berth in the 4x400 relay, and the 16th time in 17 seasons. They’ve earned all-America status 11 times, winning the NCAA crown in the event three times (2000, 2001, 2002) while placing second three times (1993, 1994, 1996) and fourth three times (1998, 1999, 2007). The Dutch were fifth in 2005 and sixth in 2006.

“It’s been kind of an expectation of the program,” Sanger said. “To make the national meet in the 4x400 is always a goal and the kids really work hard at it. We talk about it a lot and it’s an event our coaching staff certainly has an interest in. It’s a marquee event in track, it’s an exciting event and it’s usually very competitive. Hopefully we bring that competitive mentality to the race when we run.”

Dierikx’s experience and ability on the anchor leg will help the three Dutch sophomores on the relay unit. Sanger said the same is true with Hutchinson and her young teammates in the women’s relay.

“They know that if they get Guy and Kari the stick in contention, they’re going to finish strong,” Sanger said. “There are not too many questions about their ability to do that.”

Dierikx enters the 400 meter dash with the ninth-fastest time (47.92 seconds). Hanneus Ollison of McMurry (Texas) is the leader with a blistering 46.50 seconds.

“Guy was disappointed that he didn’t place in the 400 last year,” Sanger said. “He wants to redeem himself. I know we’ll get his best effort.”

Fisher, the 2007 Division III Central Region men’s field athlete of the year, was third in the hammer throw at last year’s NCAA outdoor meet (192 feet, 9 inches). He had the fourth-best Division III toss this spring (184-9). Fisher is also eyeing his first NCAA place-finish in the discus. He enters the meet ranked fifth (166-2).

“I know that Jason has high expectations,” Sanger said. “This year has seemed like kind of a struggle at times, but it’s just a matter of putting it together. I think he’s ready to do that and to finish his career on a high note.”

Brondyke, a three-sport athlete who earned all-Iowa Conference honors as a punter for the Dutch football team before competing in basketball in the winter, is ranked 12th in the long jump (23-4).

“The exciting thing about Kurtis is that he’s really competed,” Sanger said. “I think he’ll do that this week. He’s pretty consistent. That’s one thing you always look at because typically if you’re consistent you will compete well at the national meet.”

Emily Teas sprintingRecord-breaker for women—The Central women’s 4x400 relay burst into the NCAA picture Friday night at Naperville, Ill. by blowing past a 24-year-old school record with a 3:51.04 effort. The old mark of 3:55.1 was set in 1984 and Central’s previous best this season was 3:55.57. Central’s time stands seventh nationally. The foursome placed eighth at the NCAA indoor meet in March.

“We thought maybe they could run 3:52, so running 3:51 was a nice surprise,” Sanger said.           

Hutchinson, the Iowa Conference MVP, is the only relay member with NCAA outdoor meet experience. She competed in the heptathlon and the 400 meters at last year’s championships but did not place.

“Getting to the indoor meet will really help them,” Sanger said. “It’s a young group with two freshmen, a sophomore and a senior, but I don’t think that will hinder them. They really like to compete. They’ve shown that all year.”

Team finishes—Last year the Dutch men’s and women’s squads each placed 25th in the NCAA team standings. The men have been in the top 25 11 times since 1993, with five top-10 finishes. The Central women have placed in the top 25 four times in the past six seasons.

Other provisional qualifiers—Central had topped the NCAA meet provisional-qualifying standard in several other events, but didn’t make the national field. Missing the cut were Rachel Boeke (junior, Cedar Rapids, Jefferson HS) in the women’s shot put (42-8.25) and discus (143-2), Hutchinson in the women’s 400 meters (57.47 seconds) and the heptathlon (4,310 points), and Miller in the men’s 800 meters (1:52.67).

NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Championships
at Oshkosh, Wis.

Central’s events

Thursday, May 22

3 p.m.            Men’s discus—Jason Fisher

6 p.m.            Men’s long jump—Kurtis Brondyke

7:10 p.m.        Women’s 4x400-meter relay preliminaries—Emily Teas, Jill Ziskovsky,

                              Rachelle Tipton, Kari Hutchinson

7:25 p.m.        Men’s 4x400-meter relay preliminaries—Matt Patrick, Alex Miller, Luke

                              Bolander, Guy Dierikx

Friday, May 23

5:35 p.m.        Men’s 400 meter preliminaries

6 p.m.            Men’s hammer throw

 

Saturday, May 24

2:20 p.m.        Men’s 400 meter finals

4:45 p.m.        Women’s 4x400-meter relay finals

4:55 p.m.        Men’s 4x400-meter relay finals

 

16 NCAA Division III national men’s 4x400-meter relay appearances in 17 years

Year   Place           Time       Runners

1993    2nd              3:15.25     Brian Dunlap, Nate Smith, Dan Zimmerman, Les McCracken

1994    2nd              3:11.61     Dan Zimmerman, Brian Dunlap, Nate Smith, Les McCracken

1995    2nd              3:15.02     Dan Zimmerman, Ryan Erickson, Eddie Heim, Brent Ferneau

1996    prelims only NA          Brent Ferneau, Andrew Paulsen, Dan Zimmerman, Ryan Erickson

1997    Did not qualify

1998    4th               3:12.61     Nate Koerselman, Andrew Paulsen, Adam Hartford, Jon Lindaman

1999    4th               3:12.98     Marc Vander Velden, Jon Lindaman, Brad Gaskill, Nate Koerselman

2000    1st               3:09.64     Nate Koerselman, Adam Hartford, Tommy Tavegia, Chris McCullough

2001    1st               3:10.56     Chris McCullough, Adam Hartford, Tony Brownlee, Tommy Tavegia

2002    1st               3:10.05     Chris McCullough, Matt McCombs, Peter Wagner,* Tony Brownlee

2003    prelims only 3:16.26     Tanner Whipple, Justin Koeppe, Nick Miller, Kevin Pitz

2004    prelims only 3:14.80     Tanner Whipple, Justin Koeppe, Matt Jens, Matt McCombs

2005    5th               3:12.49     D.J. Cobler, Guy Dierikx, Kevin Pitz, Justin Koeppe

2006    6th               3:13.47     Ben Bollard, Craig Hernandez, Kevin Pitz, Guy Dierikx

2007    4th               3:12.64     Alex Miller, Ben Bollard, Craig Hernandez, Guy Dierikx

2008    Thurs., 7:25 p.m.          Matt Patrick, Alex Miller, Luke Bolander, Guy Dierikx

*Matt Jens ran in place of Peter Wagner in 2002 preliminaries