ROCK ISLAND, ILL.—Personal-best times poured in for the Central College men's cross country team Saturday, none bigger than a school-record performance by Noah Jorgenson (junior, Sidney).
           
Competing in a loaded 27-team field that included 11 nationally ranked NCAA Division III squads at the Augustana Interregional, Jorgenson was 27th in 24:27.4, breaking the  39-year-old 8,000-meter record of 24:33 set by Pete Anderson. Central finished 11th overall.
           
Jorgenson's previous best was 25:05 in last year's NCAA Midwest Regional.
           
"I thought Noah ran a really smart race," coach Joe Dunham said. "He really put himself in position early. He got himself up in the front pack and just gutted out a really tough race. The first mile was a lot faster than what he had done yet this year. That can be uncomfortable and he had to build on each mile. He had to battle through the race at a pace that he's never run in his life. It's a great accomplishment for him."
           
The field included No. 1-ranked Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (Calif), which won Saturday with 48 points. No. 4 North Central College (Ill.) was second with 69 and No. 3 Wartburg College was third at 84. Central had 317.
           
Caleb Silver (senior, Conrad, BCLUW HS) was 52nd (24:51.5) with Adam Sylvia (senior, Rochester, Mass., Old Rochester HS) 83rd in a career-best 25:17. Kenny Cronin (sophomore, Des Moines, Davis County HS) ran his best, finishing 91st in 25:24.4, Derek Webster (sophomore, Norwalk) blew past his career-best by more than a minute, placing 110th in 25:35.2, Cutler Owens (5th-year, Runnells, Southeast Polk HS) was 124th in a career-best 25:48.0 and Randy Jimenez (sophomore, Liberty Center, Southeast Warren HS) was 157th in a career-best 26:14.4. There were 276 runners in the field.
           
"We had a lot of great performances," Dunham said. "I couldn't be happier with how we ran but I do believe we can run even better. There's more out there. But we really competed hard. We're seeing great progress across the board and I can't wait to see what we can do in two weeks."
           
That's the American Rivers Championships Oct. 29 at Indianola and Central is eyeing an improved finish after placing fifth in the conference last year. Silver earned all-conference distinction by placing 13th.
           
"I think our guys were extremely disappointed with the way things went last year," Dunham said. "We've got a lot of really good teams in our conference and a lot of talented runners. But we want to get out there and compete at a very high level."