Sept. 27, 2008

Clark sets pace for Central women

PELLA—Central College’s cross country teams faced top-ranked teams on Saturday in the Roy Griak Invitational in St. Paul, with the women placing 13th in a 36-team field and the men finishing 18th out of 31 schools. No. 3 Wis.-La Crosse led the men’s field on the 8,000-meter course, finishing with 52 points. In second was Emory (141) and No. 9 Ohio Northern (147) was third.  

Pierre Taylor (junior, Oswego, Ill.) led the way for the Dutch, finishing 59th overall in 27:19. Derek Townsend (senior, Perry) was 104th in a personal-best 28:04, Jaron Byrum (senior, New London) was 106th in 28:06, Brandon Williams (senior, Coralville, Iowa Mennonite) was 108th in 28:07, and Andrew Hamer (freshman, Murray) was 135th in 28:44 to round out the scoring for the Dutch. Tyler Husak (senior, Tama, South Tama HS) ran a 28:50 and Cory Fitzsimmons (junior, Pella) ran a 29:13 finishing 140th and 154th, respectively.

Coe was the top finisher from the Iowa Conference with 236 points, while Central accumulated 512 points.

Clark sets the pace for women--Jess Clark (senior, Riverdale, Port Byron) was Central’s women’s frontrunner, finishing 34th overall in 23:50 on the 6,000-meter course. Angie Berry (junior, Norwalk) came in second for the Dutch in 49th at 24:04, Amber Mayer (junior, Essex, Shenandoah) was 98th in 24:49, Hannah Anderson (junior, Goodell, Garner-Hayfield) was 108th in 24:57 and Amy Ledvina (junior, Toledo, South Tama) finished the scoring at 125th in 25:17. Also running for Central were Jenni Hufford (junior, Polk City, Ankeny), who finished 162nd in 26:15 and Connie Eshelman (senior, Bridgewater, Nodaway Valley), who finished 193rd in 26:25.

Taking the women’s team title was No. 3 Wis.-Eau Claire with 110 points, while No. 12 Wartburg (151) and No. 16 Wis.-La Crosse (160) also took the podium. The Dutch finished with 412 points.

Central’s cross country teams will be off next weekend and will race again Oct. 11 at the Dan Huston Invitational in Waverly. Last season the women placed second in Waverly and the men placed sixth.