PELLA — The first full meet of the season once again paid dividends for the Central College men's indoor track & field team at the Dutch Holiday Preview Saturday.
No team scores were kept in the first of four meets held at H.S. Kuyper Fieldhouse this season.
"This meet is becoming more and more important," head coach
Joe Dunham said. "When we first started hosting it, it was more like a glorified practice. Tonight it felt like we are actually making a step towards some really good performances."
Central corralled the top-three spots in the 3,000-meter run as
Mark Fairley (senior, Dubuque) won the race in 8 minute, 48.71 seconds while
Jon Specht (senior, Dubuque, Hempstead HS) and
Jordan Toomey (junior, Runnells, Southeast Polk HS) took the silver and bronze in 9:09.04 and 9:11.14, respectively. Specht missed most of cross country season with health concerns while Fairley cemented All-American status just three weeks ago.
"Specht is a sleeping giant," Dunham said. "We're just waiting for him to put everything together from a health standpoint and good things will come to him. We have no doubt about that.
"We've got a long way to go to get to where we want Mark to be, but overall he did a great job."
Also a national qualifier in cross country, senior
Tanner Rathje, (Marion, Linn-Mar HS) won the mile run in 4:40.00
After running his fastest ever 60-meter hurdles time a week ago at Doane College (Neb.), senior
Ryan Kruse (St. Clair, Minn.) shaved another .24 seconds off to cross the line fourth in 8.70 seconds.
"I've never seen him run that fast over hurdles," Dunham said "I felt like that was an area from his multi-event last weekend that he can gain a lot on, so it was it exciting him to do well."
The 60-meter dash saw
Justin Wimbish (senior, Glendale, Ariz., Apollo HS) placed fourth in 7.05, establishing a new career-best by .01 seconds.
Weight thrower
Michael Firkins (senior, Centerville) and shot putter
Nathan Fitzgerald (junior, Elkader, Central HS) grabbed fourth-place finishes with marks of 46-4 and 51-1, respectively.
Central will return after the Christmas break and travel to Lincoln, Neb. for the Prairie Wolf Invitational on Friday, January 19.
"It was a fantastic day today," Dunham said. "We have a long break now. The key will be what they do over the next three weeks."
