DES MOINES — Central College men's track & field senior Isaac Steffensmeier (Fort Madison) competed against some elite competition Thursday night in the 10,000-meter run as a part of the distance carnival at the Drake Relays.

Steffensmeier finished 19th in the 22-man field with a time of 31 minutes, 17.72 seconds, finishing just off his personal best of 34:11.03 at the 2014 Drake Relays. It was the 40th best effort in Division III in 2017.

"He approached the race well," coach Joe Dunham said "We learned some good things about the mental side of racing tonight. He's walking away from this race with some good confidence.

"We're going to see great things from him in two weeks when the conference meet comes around."

Drew White from the University of Missouri bested the field, completing the 25-lap race in 29:41.10.

The Dutch will once again be represented at the Drake Relays on Thursday as well as the Kip Janvrin Open in Indianola.

"We've got a lot of good opportunities in front of us," Dunham said. "It's the most people we've had in the Drake Relays in a long time. We're prepared for the challenge and excited to run on the blue oval.