DUBUQUE —
Brock Lewis (senior, Lathrop, Mo.) defended his title in the long jump and the Central College men's track and field team had the second-best distance medley relay squad Friday at the American Rivers Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships.
In the team standings, Central is second with 32.5 points through five events. Loras College leads with 60.
Lewis had a season-best mark of 23 feet, 11.5 inches to win. He also won the conference's indoor long jump in 2021 and has three additional triple jump conference titles in his career.
"We've been trying to get back to that mark all year," "He was able to put it together today and nobody was able to contend with him. We're excited about how he's feeling."
In the DMR,
Adam Sylvia (junior, Rochester, Mass., Old Rochester, Mass.),
Carter Tryon (senior, Winterset),
Noah Jorgenson (sophomore, Sidney) and
Will DeHaan (senior, DeWitt, Central DeWitt HS) crossed the line in 10 minutes, 4.95 seconds to secure second place and all-conference accolades.
"It's a great time for them," Sturman said. "We want to try and get a little faster to get into nationals but we're excited about what we accomplished."
In the shot put,
Thomas Spoehr (senior, Bennington, Neb.) placed fourth with a toss of 49-5 a new personal best by over 17 inches.
Theo Baldus (senior, St. Ansgar) was also seventh in the shot put at 46-4.75.
"Thomas was frustrated because he wanted to get on the podium," Sturman said. "Hopefully, he can use that frustration outdoors. It was still a really good day for him."
Pole vaulters
Brody Klein (sophomore, Rainier, Wash.) and
Lucas Heitz (junior, Adel, ADM HS) finished fourth and tied for sixth, respectively. Klein cleared 13-4.5 and Heitz went over at 12-4.75
A strong first day in the heptathlon has five Central men in the top-six spots.
Reid Pakkebier (freshman, Cedar Rapids, Kennedy HS) is in first with 2,619 points after matching or breaking three personal bests in the 60-meter dash (7.27 seconds), long jump (21-0) and shot put (36-5.5).
Klein in second with 2,610 points,
Jaxon Thompson (sophomore, Marion, Linn-Mar HS) is in third with 2,525 points, Heitz is in fourth with 2,502 points and
Nick Thompson (senior, Newhall, Benton HS) is in sixth with 2,456 points.
Pakkebier qualified sixth (8.47 seconds) in the 60-meter hurdles prelims and will run the final Saturday.
Connor Miklos (sophomore, Lockport, Ill., Providence Catholic HS) also qualified for the final, taking eighth (8.75) in the prelims.
"We knew Reid was special," Sturman said. "He's really showing us that and we're excited about where he's at in his progression. All five of those mutli-event guys are doing what we've asked them to do and giving us a shot this weekend."
Day two of the American Rivers Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships starts at 10 a.m. Saturday morning.
