Oct. 28, 2006

Central men third at league championship

IOWA CITY-The Central College men's cross country team took third place for the second straight year while the women settled for sixth at the Iowa Conference championships in Iowa City Saturday.

The men were led by senior Adam Wolf (Corning), finishing in eighth place with a time of 24:57, 39 seconds off the winner. Joe Jefferson (senior, Decorah) and Brian Respeliers (senior, Council Bluffs , St. Albert HS) were the next two Dutch runners across the line, finishing in 17th (25:43) and 19th place (26:09) respectively. Brett Jones (senior, Knoxville) was 25th (26:33). Jaron Byrum (sophomore, Mount Union , New London HS) finished in 28th (26:48), Teddy Clark (sophomore, Oswego , Ill. ) was 29th, and Pierre Taylor (freshman, Oswego , Ill. ) finished in 30th (26:53). After the race, it was determined that the men's course was shorter the standard 8,000 meters and times accordingly faster.

"It was really good to see our four through seven runners (Jones, Byrum, Clark, and Taylor) work together through the first part of the race," said coach Stephen Fyfe. "That's something I want them to continue doing."

The Dutch men accumulated 97 points to edge fourth-place Loras by four. Luther earned the team title with 34 points, just two points better than runner-up Wartburg.

The Central women finished a disappointing sixth after finishing third a year ago. Jess Clark (sophomore, Port Byron, Ill, Riverdale HS) was the top Dutch finisher in 17th (24:14), 69 seconds behind the winner. Amber Mayer (freshman, Essex, Shenandoah HS) finished in 30th (24:57), Amy Ledvina (freshman, Toledo, South Tama HS) was 34th (25:05), Rachelle Tipton (freshman, Newton) was 36th (25:14), Angie Berry (freshman, Norwalk) finished in 37th (25:18), Jenni Hufford (freshman, Ankeny) was 39th (25:24), and Leanne Townsend (senior, Perry) finished in 45th (26:21).

"Both Angie (Berry) and Leanne (Townsend) have been sick or hurt this past week, so I was really proud of how they competed and finished the race," said Fyfe. "They knew they weren't running their best but they gutted their way through it."

Central finished with 154 points while the Luther women won the team trophy with 22.

Both teams are off until the NCAA Div. III Central Regional championships Saturday, Nov. 11 at Northfield, Minn.