Oct. 14, 2006

Wolf, Clark lead Dutch runners in Wisconsin

WEST SALEM, WIS.-The Central men's and women's cross country teams competed at the Jim Drews/Tori Neubauer Invitational Saturday, with both teams taking 23rd place in loaded fields. The Dutch men had 611 points in the 31-team field, with the University of Wisconsin taking the team title with 37 points. South Dakota State took the women's title with 78 points, while Central had 649 points in the 28-team field.

Adam Wolf (senior, Corning) led the men again, placing 53rd in the 451-athlete 8,000-meter race in 25:52, 1:43 behind the leader. Joe Jefferson (senior, Decorah) was 112th (26:51), with Brian Respeliers (senior, Council Bluffs, St. Albert HS) placing 122nd (27:01). Brett Jones (senior, Knoxville) was 156th (27:35), Teddy Clark (sophomore, Oswego, Ill.) placed 168th (27:55), Jaron Byrum (sophomore, Mount Union, New London HS) was 171st (28:03) and Pierre Taylor (freshman, Oswego, Ill.) finished in  177th (28:17).

"I thought the men held back in the first mile and ran smarter than they did last year, but we had too many individual races," said assistant coach Stephen Fyfe. "We need to work on staying together during the race. This is the most competitive meet that we run at all year, so the bar is set high."

The women were led by Jess Clark (sophomore, Port Byron, Ill., Riverside HS), placing 85th in the 434-runner 6,000-meter race in 23:44, 2:25 behind the winner. Amber Mayer (freshman, Essex, Shenandoah HS) was 127th (24:23), with Leanne Townsend (senior, Perry) close behind in 138th (24:34). Rachelle Tipton (freshman, Newton) and Amy Ledvina (freshman, Traer, South Tama HS) were 149th and 150th, respectively, both recording times of 24:49. Jenni Hufford placed 160th (24:55), Kelsey Tompkins (freshman, Webster City) was 176th (25:11) and Emily De Penning (freshman, Johnston) finished in 199th (25:52). Angie Berry (freshman, Indianola), the team's top runner most of the season, dropped out of the race because of illness.

"Running without Angie (Berry) probably dropped us five or six places," Fyfe said. "Leanne (Townsend) and Rachelle (Tipton) really had strong races."

"I think we all came ready to race," said Mayer. "Once Leanne caught me, I just tried to stay with her until the finish."

Both teams are off until the Iowa Conference Championships Oct. 28 in Iowa City.