Central, Wartburg take league titles


PELLA—Wartburg College raced to its 10th consecutive Iowa Conference women’s track and field crown while Central College used its home-track advantage to claim its first men’s league title since 2004 and its 11th in the past 19 years at Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium Saturday.

Wartburg, a likely contender for the NCAA Division III top spot May 21-23 in Marietta, Ohio, rolled up 243 points. Central was runner-up for the second straight year, with 138.5 points followed by Luther College with 107 and Loras College with 100.

The Knights snared eight individual titles. Faith Burt cruised to victories in the 100 and 200-meters while also anchoring the first-place 4x100-meter relay team. Skye Morrison swept the long jump and triple jump while Anna Kraayenbrink, victorious in the 10,000-meters Friday evening, came back to take first in the 5,000-meters Saturday for the second straight year.

Wartburg’s Marcus Newsom was the league’s coach of the year for the 10th time.

Simpson College’s Lauren Bucklin was named the league’s Most Valuable Performer. She took top honors in the 100-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles while also running on Simpson’s third-place 4x100 and 4x400-meter relay units. Bucklin established a new league record in the 100-meter hurdles Friday, finishing in 13.92 seconds in the preliminaries before a 14.21-second effort in Saturday’s finals.

Central racked up 198.5 points to claim victory in the men’s division in coach Joe Dunham’s first season with the Dutch. Dunham was named the league’s coach of the year. Loras edged Wartburg for second place, 155-150.
           
Buena Vista University’s Eric Bertelsen received Most Valuable Performer honors for the second straight year. He was also the MVP at the league indoor meet earlier this year. Bertelsen was a winner in the 100 and 200-meters and the long jump while anchoring the Beavers’ first-place 4x100-meter relay team.

Central won six events in securing its 12th conference team title. Matt Patrick, Jordan Gegner and Alex Miller 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 ran on Central’s winning 4x400-meter relay team.

There were no new league records in the men’s meet, although Miller’s 1:52.57 effort in the 800 meters was only 0.03 off the conference mark.