DES MOINES — Multiple new personal bests and a reset of a school record highlighted the first day of action at the Drake Relays Thursday for the Central College track and field team.

Six individuals in distance races and a relay team were in action for the Dutch on the first of three days at the Drake Relays.

"We had some great performances tonight," associate head coach Joe Dunham said. "It was great to get some more races in this weekend and continue to move forward."

Noah Jorgenson (senior, Sidney) retook the school record in the men's 1,500 meters with a third-place effort in a time of 3 minutes, 45.40 seconds.
           
"I was really proud of Noah," Dunham said.

Central's other male entry Thursday was Caleb Silver (fifth year, Conrad, BCLUW HS) in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, who crossed the finish line 12th in 9:03.19

"Caleb never ceases to amaze me," Dunham said. "He's coming off a small injury and ran one of the better times of his career. He's moving in the right direction and I'm looking forward to him being sharp in the next two to three weeks."

In the women's steeplechase, Caroline McMartin (senior, Pella) was third in 10:21.45, a new personal best time for her. Addison Parrott (junior, Danville) was 20th in 10:50.80.

"I thought Caroline really improved from her debut steeplechase race out in California," Dunham said. "She looked like she was able to find a good rhythm and it showed in the time.

"Addison had a great race, she just lost her position in the last lap and a half. She was a few seconds off her PR so I'm really exited about what she can in the next few weeks."

Megan Johnson (senior, Parkersburg, Aplington-Parkersburg HS) moved up to No. 2 all-time in the 5,000 meters with her time of 16:35.93 that placed her fourth.

"I thought Megan ran a really smart race," Dunham said. "We tried a different strategy. We're still adjusting to that, but it was a really good performance."

Peyton Steffen (sophomore, Marion) also had a new career-best time in the 1,500 meters, placing 12th in 4:32.29

"I was really proud of Peyton getting another PR," Dunham said. "Improvement is what I'm looking for at this part of the season, we're not trying to be sharp just yet."

Central's women's 4x800-meter relay team of Alyssa Mayhew (senior, North Aurora, Ill., West Aurora HS), Hadyn Miller (senior, Iowa Falls, Iowa Falls-Alden HS, Abby Alberti (senior, Harlan) and Riley Packer (sophomore, Erie, Ill.) was ninth in 9:27.79

The Dutch have a handful of entries competing Friday at the Drake Relays with another large contingent at the Kip Janvrin Open hosted by Simpson College in Indianola.