Teas-Wilson handoff May 9, 2009

Central second in league meet

PELLA—Under first-year head coach Joe Dunham the Central College men’s track and field team took home its 12th Iowa Conference championship Saturday while the women’s team finished second. The Dutch men hoisted the league trophy for the first time since 2004 and have now won 11 of the last 19 Iowa Conference titles while the women repeated as runners-up.  

Central’s men took first with 198.5 points, followed on the podium by Loras (155) and Wartburg (150). After that there was a big gap as Buena Vista (72.5), Luther (67), Simpson (54), Coe (48), Dubuque (38) and Cornell (32) rounded out the field.

The Dutch women’s squad scored 138.5 points, finishing behind Wartburg (243). Luther was third with 107 points, followed by Loras (100), Simpson (98.5), Coe 74), Cornell (36) and Buena Vista (22).

Dunham, tabbed as the league’s coach of the year in his rookie season, was quick to credit the program’s architect, his predecessor Kevin Sanger.

“Kevin Sanger did a great job to get this team where it’s at right now,” Dunham said. “He left something great to build off of and we’re just trying to keep what he had going.”

Sanger stepped down last June after 13 years as the head coach of the men’s team and nine years as the women’s coach. Under Sanger Central won five men’s conference championships.

Dunham said there were few disappointments in the showing of the Dutch men’s and women’s squads all weekend.

“What was important for us today was that we matched the intensity we had yesterday,” Dunham said. “We had our leaders really step up, and we got off to great start in the field events this morning which set the tone for the rest of the day.”

Dutch men win seven events—In their league-winning effort the Central men claimed championships in seven events Saturday, including two field events and five running events.

Matt Patrick (junior, Dallas Center, Dallas Center-Grimes HS), Jordan Gegner (junior, Martensdale, Martensdale-St. Marys HS) and Alex Miller (junior, Adel, Van Meter HS) each had a hand in two first-place efforts. Patrick took the 400-meters, Gegner claimed the 400-meter hurdles and Miller was first in the 800-meters. All three also ran on Central’s winning 4x400-meter relay team.

In the first running event of the day senior Teddy Clark (Montgomery, Ill., Oswego HS) broke the tape in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9 minutes, 36.05 seconds while freshman Andrew Hamer (Murray) clocked a personal best 10:06.29 for eighth.

Patrickled a trio of Dutch place-winners in the 400-meter dash with an NCAA provisional-qualifying mark of 48.47 seconds and junior Luke Bolander (Des Moines, East HS) was close behind in 48.65 seconds as both broke previous bests. Freshman Kyle Wood (Newton) clocked 49.89 seconds to take fourth. Patrick and Bolander also ran the first two legs of the first place 4 x 400-meter relay with Gegner and Alex Miller in 3:18.00.

Alex Miller set a new personal best and ran a provisional qualifying time in winning the 800- meter run in (1:52.57), just 0.03 seconds off the conference record. Junior Derek Townsend (Perry) recorded eighth-place finishes in the 1500-meter run (4:03.89) and the 800 (1:59.91).

In the 100-meter hurdles freshman Chris Henely (Grundy Center) recorded a new personal best while taking third place (14.93 seconds). Freshman Trevor Veach (Grinnell) ran 11.07 seconds to top his previous best in 100-meter dash and take seventh place while freshman Allen Scovel (Runnells, Southeast Polk HS) took eighth. Wood equaled his best time in 200-meter dash (22.45 seconds) and placed seventh just ahead of sophomore Chad Kraklio (Durant) who finished eighth in 22.65 seconds.

The Dutch had multiple place finishers in each of the men’s field events Saturday. In the high jump, freshman Ethan Miller (Seymour) led a pack of four Central athletes in third place (6 feet, 4.75 inches). He was followed by sophomore Kurtis Brondyke (Clinton) who placed fourth (6-4.75) with his best jump of the season. Freshman Nick Vance (West Des Moines, Valley HS) placed fifth (6-2.75) and Gegner took sixth (6-0.75), both setting new personal bests. Brondyke came back in the triple jump, taking third (44-8.25) with Miller fifth (43-11.75). Both were personal bests.

Freshman Josh Garrison (Maxwell, Collins-Maxwell HS) won the shot put (47-0.75), while sophomore Matt Graber (Newton) placed third (46-8.25) and freshman Phillip Miller (Vinton, Vinton-Shellsburg HS) placed fifth (45-10). Central also won the discus thanks to a provisional qualifying throw of 166-1 from freshman Tyler Crouse (Hedrick, Pekin HS), who topped his previous best by 16 feet. Graber also set a new personal best, placing fifth in 144-0.

Central women's track and field teamCentral women take second—Senior thrower Rachel Boeke (Cedar Rapids, Thomas Jefferson HS) got the Dutch women off to a strong start by winning two events. She set personal bests and reached the provisional qualifying mark in both the shot put (43-11.75) and discus throw (152-2).

Two Dutch runners finished in the top three in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase where senior Jess Clark (Port Byron, Ill., Riverside HS) placed second in 11:26.21 and junior Amy Ledvina (Toledo, South Tama HS) was third in a personal best 11:29.64. Central also got a third-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles from sophomore Jill Ziskovksy (Dallas Center, Dallas Center-Grimes) who clocked a season best 1:04.25.

Sophomore Emily Teas (Indianola) recorded sixth-place finishes in the 200-meter dash, in a season best 26.04 seconds, and in the 400-meter dash, in a personal best 58.0 seconds. In the 800-meter run junior Rachelle Tipton (Newton) finished seventh (2:19.96). Ziskovksy, Teas, Tipton and freshman Caitlin Wilson (Oakland, Riverside HS) teamed up to take second in the 4x400-meter relay (3:59.13).

In the 5,000-meters junior Angie Berry (Norwalk) crossed the line in sixth (18:41.08) and junior Amber Mayer (Essex, Shenandoah HS) finished eighth (18:57.80).

With the conference meet in the books and the NCAA Division III Championships looming ahead May 21-23, the Dutch will have several additional chances to qualify athletes who may be on the bubble as national qualifiers.

“We’re taking a lot more people to last chance meets than I think we’ve ever taken before,” said Dunham. “That’s great because we’ve got so many people who have a chance and just need one good day to get themselves to the national meet.”

Central will host its own last chance meet on Wednesday at Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium in Pella. On Thursday and Friday the Dutch will be sending athletes to Naperville, Ill. for the North Central Last Chance Open, and on Friday some will compete at the Augustana Last Chance Open in Rock Island, Ill.