Jill Ziskovsky-Rachelle Tipton handoff May 22, 2008

Dutch compete at national championships

OSHKOSH, WIS.—Central’s only qualifier in the women’s field was the 4x400-meter relay team, but the Dutch failed to advance to the finals.

The unit of Emily Teas (freshman, Indianola), Jill Ziskovsky (freshman, Dallas Center, Dallas Center-Grimes HS), Rachelle Tipton (sophomore, Newton) and Kari Hutchinson (senior, Charles City) was third in its heat at 3:52.74. That put them 11th and  out of the nine-team finals.

“They’re pretty disappointed but if you’d told us two months ago that we would run 3:52 at the national meet, I think we’d have taken it,” coach Kevin Sanger said. “They’ve made a lot of strides as a relay and for our women’s program. They’ve done it with great attitudes and with great work ethics. They’ve come light years from where they started. They’re disappointed, but we’ll be back.”

Hard-fought men’s relay—While content with the time his men’s squad posted in the 4x400-meter relay, Sanger is thrilled the Dutch are moving on after an intensely competitive preliminary race. Dierikx, a seven-time all-America honoree, was 5 meters behind when he started the anchor leg.

“It was a great race,” Sanger said. “Guy got the baton in third, but he always likes to compete and just finds a way to get in there and get it done. They were pretty even heading down the stretch and he pulled ahead right at the end.

“I thought Matt (Patrick), Alex (Miller) and Luke (Bolander) all ran well, too. Matt started the race out in lane seven, which is kind of tough, but they all did what they had to do.”

Central is making its 11th straight NCAA appearance in the relay and its 16th in 17 years. The Dutch were fourth a year ago and have won the title three times. Central entered the meet with the seventh-fastest qualifying time in the field (3:14.09). Six squads have turned in faster times this season than what Central registered Thursday, led by North Central (Ill.), which posted 3:12.79 earlier in the season. North Central was third in Central’s heat Thursday, finishing in 3:14.42.

“The biggest thing is we got a lane for the finals,” Sanger said.

Brondyke’s improvement has been dramatic.

“That’s kind of the way it’s been all year for him,” Sanger said of the three-sport athlete. “Once we got him on the runway, we felt good about his chances. He likes to compete and hopefully he’s getting an idea of just how good he could be.”

Fisher competed hard as well, Sanger said.

“Really, it was his second-best series (of throws) all year,” he said. “He didn’t throw badly but he had to catch a big one and it didn’t happen.”

Sanger is confident Fisher will come back strong in the hammer throw.

“He’s excited,” Sanger said. “That’s kind of his event and I think he’ll do well.”