GRINNELL — The Central College men's and women's track and field teams picked up third-place finishes at Grinnell College's Darren Young Invitational Saturday.

The Dutch women totaled 106 points and the men piled up 96 points in the 11-team field. Nebraska Wesleyan University were the team champions on both sides, racking up 177 points on the men's side and 138 in the women's field.
           
Lewis's high jump on track for national bid – A two-time national qualifier and three-time conference champion in the men's high jump, Drake Lewis (senior, Lathrop, Mo.) cleared the bar at 6 feet, 9.75 inches to move into the No. 3 slot nationally and likely earning a spot in his third national meet. He finished second in Saturday's meet.
           
"It was a great day for Drake," coach Brandon Sturman said. "We've been working towards getting to those heights and we're just glad he got to a point today and set himself up well for nationals."
           
Brock Lewis (senior, Lathrop, Mo.) not only won the long jump with a leap of 22-10.5, he also ran the second leg of the winning 4x200-meter relay team that finished in 1 minute, 32.73 seconds. He was joined by Nolan Reynolds (junior, Montezuma), Carter Tryon (senior, Winterset) and JD Elefson (Ankeny, North Polk HS).
           
For the third time in the last five meets, Thomas Spoehr (senior, Bennington, Neb.) threw exactly 47 feet, 11 inches. That mark placed him second Saturday.
           
"It's pretty unheard of to throw the exact same thing three times," Sturman said. "He's been woring hard to get to this point. The consistency is key but we're hoping for him to break through one time and hopefully it's in two weeks at the conference meet."
           
Reid Pakkebier (freshman, Cedar Rapids, Kennedy HS) added a third-place effort in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.58 seconds.
           
Women win 4x200 relay – Running a 4x200-meter relay for the first time all season, Kasey Pelzer (sophomore, Pleasantville), Lauren Brown (sophomore, Underwood), Elsie Thoreson (sophomore, Pella) and Abbi Roerdink (sophomores, Tiffin, Hopewell-Loudon HS) won it in 1:49.28.
           
Roerdink also was second in the 400-meter run (1:00.98) and Brown was third in 1:01.07.
           
Abby Marr (junior, Riceville) surpassed 50 feet in the weight throw for the fifth time this season, measuring at 50-9.5 and finishing second.
           
"Concrete rings have been challenging for us," Sturman said. "So for her to come out and face that adversity and get through it will make her better down the road."
           
In the 5,000-meter run, Hailey Hill (junior, Las Vegas, Nevada., West Career and Technical Academy) was third in 19:23.33
           
"Hailey's a leader for our program" Sturman said. "It was really good to see her take some strides today. Hopefully, we can keep her healthy and keep it going."
           
Central competes at the Liz Wuertz Invitational in Waverly next Saturday.