DUBUQUE— The big weekend for Central College track & field athlete
Will Daniels (freshman, Geneseo, Ill.) continued as he set a new record in the heptathlon Saturday at his first Iowa Conference Indoor Championships.
The University of Dubuque won the team title with 125 points. Central finished just 18 points behind the Spartans with 107 points. The Spartans ended Central's two-year title run.
"I think we probably had the best we could considering injuries and things like that," coach
Joe Dunham said. "I was pleased with the effort. I know it will be motivation for them as we move to the outdoor season."
Daniels finished with a two-day total of 4,753 points in the heptathlon, the 11th best score in the country. In addition to his victory in the heptathlon, Daniels placed third in the high jump by clearing 6 feet, 7.5 inches. He also placed eighth in yesterday's long jump.
"Will had an incredible meet," Dunham said. "He did a good job despite having pretty tired legs at the end."
Ryan Kruse (senior, St. Clair, Minn.) placed fourth in the heptathlon with 4,611 points.
Maintaining his stranglehold on the conference title in the high jump,
Logan Mulford (senior, Mount Pleasant) sailed over the bar at 6-9.5.
Reese Iversen (junior, Grimes/Dallas Center-Grimes HS) was also sixth by clearing 6-5.5
"Any time you're the top guy coming it's hard to perform at the level everyone expects," Dunham said. "Logan did a good job."
The distance runners provided a gluttony of points for the Dutch, an effort spearheaded by
Mark Fairley (junior, Dubuque) and
Jon Specht (junior, Dubuque/Hempstead HS) had a pair of top-three finishes. Fairley was second in the mile run (4:23.05) and third in the 3,000-meter run (8:36.96). Specht was third in both the mile (4:23.05) and 800-meter run (1:57.45).
"It's really great to see Jon up there," Dunham said. "We felt like he could have been up there the last couple of years. It's good to see him moving in that direction. Mark was fantastic. We asked a lot of him and he did a great job."
Other placewinners in distance events included
Isaac Steffensmeier's (senior, Fort Madison) fourth-place effort in the 3,000 meters (8:40.99) and
Kyle Pape's (sophomore, Dubuque/Wahlert Catholic HS) eighth-place finish in the 800 meters.
Pape and Specht were also joined by
Preston Kizer (freshman, Zwingle/Dubuque HS) and
Taylor Donner (junior, Dubuque) on the fourth-place 4x800-meter relay team that finished in 7:58.28.
In the 200-meter dash,
Justin Wimbish (junior, Glendale, Ariz./Apollo HS) was fourth in 22.61 seconds. A quartet of
P.J. Carey (junior, Ankeny),
Cory Suedmeier (freshman, Ankeny/Centennial HS),
Caleb Jennings (sophomore, Spirit Lake) and
Blake Morgan (junior, Story City/Roland-Story HS) were fifth in the 4x400-meter relay in 3:27.77.
"Justin had an incredible weekend," Dunham said. "He's pretty banged up right now. He battled through it and give every ounce of energy to his team."
The Dutch also added a sixth-place finish in the weight throw, courtesy of
Michael Firkins (junior, Centerville) heave of 53-10.25
With the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships two weeks away, the Dutch will have some final opportunities to qualify for the national meet. Central will potentially go to four different last chance meets next weekend at St. Olaf (Minn.), Wis.-Platteville, Wis.-Stevens Point or Wartburg looking to improve their times and marks.
"We'll get all of our athletes that are close to qualifying one more opportunity for the national meet," Dunham said. "They'll be able to compete against some really tough competition."
