PELLA — Senior Kyle Pape (senior, Dubuque, Wahlert) was the top entry in the 1,000-meter run and the mile to pace the Central College men's track and field team at the Prairie Wolf Invitational Friday night.

No team scores were kept at the meet that featured from eight schools, including entries from Division I schools University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Oral Roberts University (Okla.).

"It was a good meet to have against some different and higher level competition," coach Brandon Sturman said. "It was on a banked track, which is different for us. We would have liked to be able to take more advantage of it but I think the short week caught up with us."

Pape won the 1000 in 2 minutes, 34.15 seconds and the mile in 4:26.37. It was a new personal best for him in the 1000 and the best mile time for a Central runner this year.

Will DeHaan (freshman, DeWitt, Central DeWitt HS) had a breakout performance in the 800-meter run (2:02.97) and mile (4:30.92), placing second in both races.

"Kyle and Will led the mid-distance crew with a pair of strong runs," Sturman said.

Mitchell Yaw (senior, Orange City, MOC-Floyd Valley HS) and Alec Stahl (freshman, Steamboat Rock, AGWSR HS) finished second and third in the 600-meter run with times of 1:25.64 and 1:26.16, respectively.
           
"Mitchell led the men in this event, but he was followed closely by Alec," Sturman said. "That's a good sign for what his future will be."
           
In the 5,000-meter run, Jeremy Fopma (freshman, Marion) and Daniel Sunvold (junior, Monroe, Southeast Polk HS) also placed second and third in 15:29.79 and 15:52.49, respectively. Bryant Seuferer also had a third-place effort in the 3,000-meter run (9:01.22)
           
Central's line top-five finisher in a field event came from Nathan Fitzgerald (senior, Elkader, Central HS) in the shot put, where he tossed a fourth-place mark of 49 feet, 5 inches.
           
The Dutch will compete at the Wartburg Select on February 1 and 2 in Waverly.
           
"As we progress into next week, they'll have more time to recover and will eventually start to get their legs back," Sturman said.