Amber Mayer April 10, 2009

Mayer, Clark turn in third-place finishes

DES MOINES—Central College senior Teddy Clark (Montgomery, Ill., Oswego HS) captured first place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Drake University’s  Jim Duncan Invitational Friday evening. The two-day meet, which features a combination of NCAA Division I, II and III squads, opened with a variety of distance events Friday.  

Clark won in 9:28.42, just 2 seconds off his career best time. Andrew Hamer (freshman, Murray) was ninth (10:19.60).

Meanwhile Central’s Amber Mayer (junior, Essex, Shenandoah HS) blew past her personal best in the women’s 10,000 meters, finishing third in 38:11.95, an improvement of more than 2 minutes. Teammate Angie Berry (junior, Norwalk) was fourth in 38:25.59 with Connie Eshelman (junior, Bridgewater, Nodaway Valley HS) 11th (42:01.12). Jaron Byrum (senior, Mount Union, New London HS) was fourth in the men’s 10,000 meters (32:52.05), with Austin Vondracek (sophomore, Swisher, Cedar Rapids Prairie HS) ninth 10,000 meters (34:35.96) and Tyler Husak (senior, Montour, South Tama HS) 10th (34:57.10).

Jess Clark (senior, Port Byron, Ill., Riverdale HS) led a trio of Dutch placewinners in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, finishing third in 11:24.04. Amy Ledvina (junior, Toledo, South Tama HS) was fourth (11:31.63) and Kelsey Tompkins (junior, Webster City) was sixth (12:53.94).

Pierre Taylor (junior, Montgomery, Ill., Oswego HS) set a new personal best in the 5,000 meters, finishing 13th in a competitive field in 15:49.37.