Pierre Taylor July 30, 2009

Taylor, Clark lead young Central squad

Progress is the focus for what is likely to be a young Central College men’s cross country lineup this fall.

New coach Joe Dunham, who guided the Central men’s track and field squad to an Iowa Conference title in his first season last spring, takes over the men’s and women’s cross country programs as well. But with just two of last year’s top seven runners returning from a men’s squad that finished sixth in the Iowa Conference, Dunham is trying to rein in his own lofty expectations. A former all-American distance runner, Dunham knows this is particularly true with a freshman-dominated roster.

“Our theme for the year is work hard and get better,” he said. “We just want to take steps forward. With the freshmen, we have to be careful with their training and approach it in a building block manner. We need to build them over four years, not weeks, months or even seasons. It takes a long time to develop a distance runner so we have to have a broader vision.”

That doesn’t mean the Dutch are giving up on 2009. Dunham’s first recruiting class is a talented one and the return of a couple of key veteran performers gives him confidence that the Dutch will make significant strides.

The biggest boost comes from the return of senior Teddy Clark, who missed the 2008 campaign while studying with Central Abroad in Europe. He was back in the spring and captured the Iowa Conference 3,000-meter steeplechase title, helping the Dutch claim the team crown.

“Teddy’s one of the best in the conference and should be shooting to win the conference title and qualify for the national meet,” Dunham said. “It depends on how his summer goes.”

The top returnee from the 2008 squad is also back. Team MVP Pierre Taylor was Central’s leader in every race as a junior last fall, placing 22nd at the conference meet.

“Pierre is certainly a guy we’re looking to for leadership,” Dunham said. “He understands his role and what the team needs to be successful. How he does is going to help determine how the team does.”

The only other returning member of last year’s top seven is sophomore Andrew Hamer. He was the team’s No. 7 runner at the league meet and No. 6 in the NCAA Division III Central Regional.

“Andrew has got a lot of desire and heart,” Dunham said. “He had a great freshman year and developed a lot.”

Hamer came on during track season and finished eighth in the league in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

“That said a lot to me about him,” Dunham said. “Being a conference placewinner was a big goal of his. He was willing to put in the work and get it done. We’re looking for him to make big improvement this year.”

Junior Austin Vondracek was on the junior varsity most of last season but Dunham expects him to be a key contributor while senior Cory Fitzsimmons has cracked the varsity lineup in several meets the past two years.

“Austin had a phenomenal track season,” he said. “He’s understanding what it takes to succeed. He’s really moved up on our list.

“Cory put in a great summer of running. He’s going to be another leader for us.”

Dunham is counting on freshmen to fill at least three varsity positions and perhaps more.

“It’s a pretty good recruiting class,” he said. “It gives us a good start to rebuilding the program. We’ve got a long way to go but we’ve got a good base. We just have to keep working at it.”