Sept. 4, 2008

Central starts season on home course

PELLA— Runners from 11 schools are expected for the season-opening Central Dutch Invitational cross country meet Saturday.  

Now in its fifth year, the meet will be run on Central’s campus cross country course at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex. 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. High school races will follow. The boys’ JV race is at 11 a.m. with the varsity at 11:30 a.m., the girls’ JV at noon and the girls’ varsity at 12:30 p.m.

Runners from Simpson, Buena Vista, Grand View, Luther, St. Ambrose and William Penn, as well as Iowa Central and Southwestern community colleges will compete in both the men’s and women’s divisions. Clarke is also entered in the women’s race while Ashford is in the men’s field. The Central men’s and women’s squads each placed second in seven-team fields last year.

Interim coach Stephen Fyfe said it’s too early in the season to be aiming for top performances but that the meet will serve as an early barometer of his runners’ training.

“It’s our home meet and so you want to get geared up for it, but it’s also our first meet of the season and we’re in a different phase of our training,” Fyfe said. “Our big emphasis will be on packing. We want to see our runners packing up and running together.”

The Central cross country course opened in 2004 and is a demanding course that covers a varied terrain, yet is popular with runners Fyfe said.

“It looks like it’s in pretty good shape,” he said. “It’s a mature course now.”

Men eye progress--After a pair of third-place showings at the Iowa Conference meet, an inexperienced Central men’s squad slipped to sixth in the conference last season. Six of last season’s top seven runners return, including senior Jaron Byrum (New London) and junior Pierre Taylor (junior, Oswego, Ill.), who were Central’s highest finishers in the conference and NCAA Division III regional meets. Byrum received Central’s Most Valuable Performer Award along with his third varsity letter.

Other returning letterwinners include James Armstead (senior, Greenfield, Nodaway Valley HS), Brett Dietrich (senior, Williamsburg), Dustin Draisey (sophomore, Keota), Cory Fitzsimmons (junior, Pella), Tyler Husak (senior, Tama, South Tama HS), Derek Townsend (senior, Perry) and Austin Vondracek (sophomore, Swisher, Cedar Rapids Prairie HS).

Women look to contend—Third in the Iowa Conference last year, the Central women’s squad hopes to begin pushing league powers Luther and Wartburg. Among the 10 returning letterwinners is two-time NCAA Division III meet qualifier Angie Berry (junior, Norwalk). She finished sixth at the NCAA Central Regional last November.

Senior Hannah Anderson (junior, Goodell, Garner-Hayfield HS) was Central’s top runner in two meets when Berry was absent. Team Leadership Award winner Jess Clark (senior, Riverdale, Ill., Port Byron HS) was Central’s No. 2 runner at the NCAA regional meet.

Other letterwinners back are Amy Ledvina (junior, Tama, South Tama HS), Meghan Burt (sophomore, Ankeny, Ankeny Christian HS), Connie Eshelman (senior, Bridgewater, Nodaway Valley HS), Jenni Hufford (junior, Ankeny), Amber Mayer (junior, Essex, Shenandoah HS), Kelsey Tompkins (junior, Webster City) and Molly Von Holten (sophomore, Walnut, Ill., Bureau Valley HS).

“I’m pleased with how things are going,” Fyfe said. “Both teams are working hard and I like what I’ve seen. But we’re ready to compete. We’re anxious to see where we’re at compared to other teams.”