DES MOINES — For the second time this season,
Brock Lewis (senior, Lathrop, Mo.) broke the men's outdoor long jump school record with his performance at the Drake Relays Friday afternoon.
Central had athletes entered at the Drake Relays and the Kip Janvrin Open at Indianola.
Lewis improved upon the long jump school record he set two weeks ago by leaping 24 feet, 4.5 inches to tie for fourth. James Carter from the University of Iowa had the winning effort of 24-8.75
"We talked about using this meet to mentally get ready for nationals," coach
Brandon Sturman said. "It's a big meet with big competition. He was consistent the whole meet. What he did was super impressive.
Lewis also ran the second leg of the 4x100-meter relay team that finished 23rd of 35 teams in 42.74 seconds. He was joined by
JD Elefson (freshman, Ankeny, North Polk HS), Brian Hart (freshman, Norwalk) and
Nolan Reynolds (junior, Montezuma).
Abbi Roerdink (sophomore, Tiffin, Ohio, Hopewell-Loudon HS), Rayna Sickels (freshman, Indianola), Elsie Thoreson (sophomore, Pella) and
Krissa Larson (senior, Waverly, Waverly-Shell Rock HS) finished 27th in the women's 4x200-meter relay. Elefson, Reynolds,
Carson Zeitler (freshman, Milton, Davis County HS) and
Jackson Moats (sophomore, Bettendorf, Pleasant Valley HS) finished 23rd in 1:30.68
"We have a lot of Iowa athletes so anytime we can get our athletes back to Drake is exciting," Sturman said.
High jumpers
Sam Beatty (junior, Mount Pleasant) and
Drake Lewis (senior, Lathrop, Mo.) both cleared 6-6.75 and tied for 13th and 24th, respectively, based on previous misses.
"The biggest thing about this meet is starting at a higher bar," Sturman said. "It can make it more challenging and it helps them get that mentality of needing to clear the first bar. It was a good experience and a good way to prepare for nationals."
KIP JANVRIN OPEN –
After running at the Drake Relays earlier in the day, Reynolds took the title in the men's 400-meter dash, topping the 63-runner field in 49.00 seconds, a top-50 time in NCAA Division III.
"He's hitting PRs in almost every meet which is really exciting," Sturman said.
Luke Pavlat (senior, Pella) added a javelin throw title with a toss of 157-4 and
Brody Klein (sophomore, Rainier, Wash.) took the pole vault crown at 14-11. Klein moved into the top five in Central history in the event.
"Luke is getting back in the groove," Sturman said. "For him to hit that mark on a grass runway is even more exciting. Brody was really focusing on fine tuning some things to get ready for conference."
Caroline McMartin (sophomore, Pella) was third in the 3000-meter steeplechase in 11:09.03. It's a nine-second improvement off her previous-best time.
"She is ready to run a fast time fitness wise," Sturman said. "It comes down to putting the race together, being competitive and being technically sound when she goes over the barriers. She was able to do that tonight."
Carter Tryon (senior, Winterset) was seventh in the men's 400-meter hurdles in 55.50 seconds. Roerdink was 10th in the women's 400-meter dash in 59.19 seconds.
"Kip Janvrin Open is the most competitive meet we'll see all year because it's a mix of talent from all levels of the NCAA and NAIA," Sturman said.
Central will compete at the Dr. Tucker Invitational next Friday at 2 p.m. at Loras College.
