PELLA — Two more Central College track and field athletes are coming home from the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships with All-American recognition after the meet's final day of action Saturday.

Gunner Meyer (junior, Fairbank, Wapsie Valley HS) qualified for Saturday's men's 110-meter hurdles final in fifth place and was running well through eight of the 10 hurdles before taking a fall on the final hurdle. His time of 15.52 seconds was the slowest of nine runners in the final.

However, after protesting the results, it was revealed that the runner in the lane next to Meyer crossed the line and clipped his hurdle. He was disqualified, pushing Meyer to an eighth-place finish and a spot on the podium.

"He ran a great race until the last hurdle or two," coach Brandon Sturman said. "The runner on the inside lane had his trail leg hit Gunner's ninth hurdle. That's just the sport; we caught a break. Gunner was deserving of a spot on the podium, but it just played out differently."

Men's triple jumper Kale Purcell (senior, Holton, Kan.) finished in 11th with a mark of 48 feet, 1.25 inches. A loaded field saw seven jumpers clear 15 meters (approximately 49 feet) after only six did it all season. Purcell still earned second team All-American honors.

"We obviously would have loved to make finals, but in the end he was happy with how he jumped," Sturman said. "He jumped right around his PR. It was a tough competition. He was happy with how it ended but not satisfied."

In her second event and third race of the weekend, Peyton Steffen (junior, Marion) was 19th in the women's 5,000 meters in 17 minutes, 14.21 seconds.

"It was a lost faster race than last year," Sturman said. "She was happy with how she ran. She hit her goal, but the faster race made it harder to get into those top 16 spots."
           
In the team standings, the Dutch men tied for 26th and the women shared 52nd place. It was the men's best finish since 2019, when they finished tied for 24th.