AZUSA, CALIFORNIA — Kyle Pape (senior, Dubuque, Wahlert Catholic HS), Will DeHaan (freshman, DeWitt, Central HS) and Jordan Toomey (senior, Runnells, Southeast Polk HS) represented the Central College men's track and field team at the Bryan Clay Invitaitonal Friday.

"Pape had a great race," Dunham said. "He put himself in a position early to run very fast by going out in 53 seconds for the first lap. He just needs to get a little more fit so he can come back in 57 seconds. I am really proud of him."

DeHaan broke the two-minute barrier for the first time at Central, placing 144th with a time of 1:58.14. There were 156 athletes from around the country and across all of the NCAA's divisions.

"Will learned a little bit today about needing to get out faster," Dunham said. "If you're going to do something special, you have to the risk early and get into position to do that. This was a very good experience for him and I know it'll pay off for him moving forward."

On Thursday, Toomey clocked in at 9:50.96 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to finish 94th of 112 runners.

"This was a great experience for Jordan," Dunham said." We didn't have a great day, but this experience will be something he remembers. He's the top returner in the conference for the steeple so I'm confident he will be ready when the time comes."

Miranda Kruiswyk (freshman, Dunlap, Ill.) became just the fifth Central female to break the 18-minute mark in the 5,000-meter run, the first since Mel McDermott in 2011. She finished sixth in the eighth heat late Thursday night in 17:48.51. There are no overall results for all eight heats combined.

"Miranda was focused and gave an incredible effort," associate head coach Joe Dunham said. "A 30-second PR is always amazing, for her to rip through that race like she did was rewarding. I can't wait for the next month."
800-meter runners Pape and DeHaan both had season-best times Friday afternoon. Pape finished 75th with a time of 1:53.52 after running 1:52.88 in the same event last year.

In the 1,500-meter runs, Kyle Pape finished 103rd on the men's side in 3:58.93. Zach Litoff of Santa Clara University won in 3:50.15. On the women's side, Mikayla Tinkham of the University of British Columbia was victorious in 4:29.45 while Kruiswyk was 143rd in 4:55.37.

"Pape finally broke four minutes, which is always a tough barrer," Dunham said. "I'm pleased with where he is at right now."

A handful of Central athletes will hopefully be competing at the Drake Relays next week, but the heat sheets won't be posted until Sunday. The majority of Central's roster will be at the Kip Janvrin Open on Simpson's campus next weekend.