CEDAR RAPIDS—Capping off the second day of competition with a bang Friday, the Central College men's track and field 4x800-relay team won the title at the American Rivers Conference outdoor championships.
Central is two points out of first place in the team standings with 63, behind the University of Dubuque's 65.
Bryant Seuferer (junior, Milo, Southeast Warren HS), Rylan Heffernan (Stuart, ADM HS, Will DeHaan (freshman, DeWitt, Central HS) and
Kyle Pape (senior, Dubuque, Wahlert Catholic HS) took home the 4x800-meter relay in 7 minutes, 47.43 seconds.
"It was super exciting to finish the day like that and have all those guys run their best," coach
Brandon Sturman said. "Pape ran a split of 1:50.92. It really put a stamp on the day."
In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, freshman
Jeremy Fopma (Marion) placed second in 9:25.19.
A career-high leap of 6 feet, 9 inches gave
Drake Lewis (sophomore, Lathrop, Mo.) a high jump championship, putting him in line for a bid to the NCAA Division III Championships.
"We knew he has the potential to jump that high," Sturman said. "He put it together in the conference meet and set himself up to go to nationals."
Junior
Will Daniels (Geneseo, Ill.) was third in the event with a mark of 6-5. Daniels also finished third in the long jump (22-4.25) and also qualified third for the 110-meter hurdle finals on Saturday in 15.05 seconds.
"We know how good Will is and that's why we put him in the open events instead of the decathlon," Sturman said. "We stretch him pretty thin, but he is a team player and does what has to do in order to get us as many points as possible."
Nathan Fitzgerald (senior, Elkader, Central HS) was third in the shot put with an effort of 50-10.
Also qualifying for finals on Saturday were Pape in the 800-meter run (third, 1:57.78) and
Carter Tryon (freshman, Winterset) in the 400-meter hurdles (sixth, 56.10 seconds).
The final day of action stats at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
