WAVERLY — Scoring in 16 of the 19 events, the Central College men's track and field team placed fifth at the American Rivers Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday.
With 90.5 points, the Dutch were fifth in the nine-team field. Wartburg College was first with 177 points.
"We scored in a lot of events but we didn't get a lot of wins," coach
Brandon Sturman said. "More depth would help us as well. Our guys completed really well and did exactly what we asked of them."
Will Daniels (senior, Geneseo, Ill.) added two more all-conference performances to his weekend. He was the 60-meter dash runner-up (6.99 seconds) and also took second in the high jump (6-7.5). A sixth-place time of 8.67 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles solidified Daniels scoring in all five of his events over the weekend for a total of 33 points.
"For the schedule he had today, he did phenomenal," Sturman said. "He was literally running back and forth between the high jump, 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles. He did all three of them in about 20 minutes."
Kyle Pape's (senior, Dubuque, Wahlert Catholic HS) 800-meter run of 1:55.62 was good for third place and all-conference plaudits.
Will DeHaan (freshman, DeWitt, Central HS) finished seventh in 1:58.55
Pape and DeHaan ran the 4x800-meter relay with freshmen
Rylan Heffernan (Stuart, ADM HS) and
Alec Stahl (Steamboat Rock, AGWSR HS) and placed fourth in 8:04.21
"Pape had a great meet," Sturman said. "He ran a phenomenal race and set himself up to get a medal in the 800."
Caleb Jennings (senior, Spirit Lake) and
Nick Thompson (freshman, Newhall, Benton HS) combined for eight points in the heptathlon as Jennings was fourth (4,001 points) while Thompson was sixth (3,658 points).
The 4x400-meter relay team of
Mitchell Yaw (senior, Orange City, MOC-Floyd Valley HS),
Carter Tryon (freshman, Winterset), Jennings and
Cory Suedmeier (junior, Ankeny, Centennial HS) placed fourth in 3:25.32.
Yaw also placed eighth in the 400-meter run (51.16 seconds).
"Mitchell scored out of a slow heat, which was awesome," Sturman said.
Drake Lewis (sophomore, Lathrop, Mo.) tied for fifth in the high jump (6-2.25) while his brother
Brock Lewis (freshman, Lathrop, Mo.) was eighth in the triple jump (43-7).
In the 3,000-meter run,
Jeremy Fopma (freshman, Marion) crossed the line in 8:50.87 to finish in sixth.
A select few athletes may return to Waverly again next weekend in an effort to qualify for the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 8-9 in Boston, Massachusetts.
