DUBUQUE — Nine underclassmen contributed points for the Central College women's track and field team on Saturday, finishing fifth at the American Rivers Conference Outdoor Championships.
All but one of Central's point scorers on Saturday were freshmen or sophomores as the Dutch closed with 71.5 total points. Wartburg College took the team title with 231 points.
Abbi Roerdink (sophomore, Tiffin, Ohio, Hopewell-Loudon HS) just missed the podium in the 400-meter dash, placing fourth in 58.65 seconds.
"Abbi ran great again today," coach
Brandon Sturman said. "She's only a sophomore in a super-talented field full of fifth-year seniors in the best conference in the country. She's not far from making that podium and its awesome to see where the future could be."
Abby Gruver (sophomore, Sully, Lynnville-Sully HS) was fifth in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:05.59.
"She's had a phenomenal year," Sturman said. "It's unbelievable what she's been able to do this year and accomplish this weekend. I'm super proud of her."
Gruver and Roerdink led off both the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relay teams alongside
Elsie Thoreson (sophomore, Pella).
Lauren Brown (sophomore, Underwood) joined the fourth 4x400 team (4:00.29) and
Kasey Pelzer (sophomore, Pleasantville) was on the sixth place 4x100 squad (50.67).
Abby Marr (sophomore, Riceville) was fifth in the hammer throw (154 feet, 4 inches) and
Cali Coffman (junior, Leawood, Kan., Blue Valley HS) tied for seventh in the pole vault (9-4.25).
Megan Johnson (sophomore, Parkersburg, Aplington-Parkersburg HS) was seventh in the 5,000-meter run (18.36.89) and
Rayna Sickels (freshman, Indianola) was eighth in the 100-meter hurdles (15.93 seconds).
The Dutch will compete in last chance meets next week with the official schedule pending individual athletes standings in the qualifying lists. The majority of the Central athletes will likely go to Augustana College's (Ill.) Midwest Twilight Qualifier on Thursday but other options include meets at North Central College (Ill.), St. Olaf College (Minn.) and the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse.
