Matt Graber Feb. 27, 2009

Central grabs first-day league lead

WAVERLY—Central College has grabbed the early lead after the first day of the Iowa Conference men’s indoor track and field meet while the Dutch women are in second place.

Competing at Hoover Fieldhouse at Wartburg College, Central’s men have 50 points through seven events, for a slim 3-point advantage over Loras College. Wartburg is a close third with 45. The heavily favored Wartburg women already have a comfortable margin with 94 points to Central’s 49. The meet concludes Saturday with field events starting at 9 a.m. and running events at noon.

“Our athletes came very well prepared and stepped up to the challenge,” coach Joe Dunham said. “It was exciting to see them come together. We had a ton of PRs (personal records). That’s a tribute to the kids and how hard they’ve worked.”

Matt Graber (sophomore, Newton) and Josh Garrison (freshman, Maxwell, Collins-Maxwell HS) went one-two in the shot put. Graber’s toss of 51-feet, 6.25 inches earned him provisional qualifying status for the NCAA Division III indoor championships March 13-14. Garrison threw 47-11.

The unit of Derek Townsend (junior, Perry), Connor Daily (sophomore, Ottumwa), Elliot McDowell (sophomore, Grundy Center) and Teddy Clark (senior, Montgomery, Ill., Oswego HS) was second in the distance medley relay in 10:27.14. The foursome of Kyle Wood (freshman, Newton), Matt Patrick (junior, Dallas Center, Dallas Center-Grimes HS),  Mitch Morris (junior, Naples, Fla., Barron Collier HS) and Allen Scovel (freshman, Runnells, Southeast Polk HS) was third in the 4x200-meter relay (1:30.86).

Kurtis Brondyke (sophomore, Clinton) took fifth in the long jump (21-10.25), Jaron Byrum (senior, Mount Union, New London HS) was sixth in the 5,000-meters (15:39.0) and Greg Foote (senior, Maple Grove, Minn.) was seventh in the pole vault (11-11.75).

Four Central athletes placed in the league’s first men’s and women’s pentathlon. Caitlin Wilson (freshman, Oakland, Riverside HS) and Jill Ziskovsky (sophomore, Dallas Center, Dallas Center-Grimes HS) were third and fourth, respectively in the women’s division. Wartburg’s Brittany Melloy won with 3,111 points while Wilson had 2,965 and Ziskovsky scored 2,949. Wilson was first in the pentathlon’s 55 meter hurdles (9.13 seconds) while Ziskovsky was first in the long jump (16 feet, 1 inch) and the shot put (31-5.75).

Foote was fourth in the men’s pentathlon with 3,030 points and Nick Vance (freshman, West Des Moines, Valley HS) was seventh with 2,846. Cornell College’s James Wohrley won with 3,287.

Boeke, Berry shine for women--Rachel Boeke (senior, Cedar Rapids, Jefferson HS) took second in the shot put for the Dutch women and earned provisional qualifying status with a throw of 43-0.25, nearly a foot beyond her previous best.

Angie Berry (junior, Norwalk) was second in the 5,000 meters (18:22.09) with Amber Mayer (junior, Essex, Shenandoah HS) seventh (18:40.0). Liz Hasenmiller (freshman, Bettendorf) was sixth in the pole vault with a career best 7-6.5 while Carissa Bentz (junior, Ute, Boyer Valley HS) was fourth in the long jump (16-10.5) with Ziskovsky sixth (16-5.75).

Emily Teas (sophomore, Indianola), Ziskovsky, Angie Latta (junior, Madrid) and Bentz were third in the 4x200-meter relay (1:47.84). Amy Ledvina (junior, Toledo,  South Tama HS), Amanda Mosinski (sophomore, Packwood, Pekin HS), Rachelle Tipton (junior, Newton) and Jess Clark (senior, Port Byron, Ill., Riverdale HS) were sixth in the distance medley (12:37.83).