The Central College men’s and women’s track and field squads rolled up to nine victories in their first outdoor meet of the spring at the Augustana College Viking Olympics Friday and Saturday.

The Central men accumulated 187.75 points to take second in the nine-team field with host Augustana taking the title with 365.75 points. Meanwhile the Dutch women had 162 points to take third in the nine-team field with Northern Illinois winning the meet with 225 points.

Junior Tyler Crouse got his outdoor season off to a fast start a win in the discus throw. His toss of 165 feet, seven inches was well beyond the NCAA-provisional qualifying mark of 157-6 and puts him in early contention for a spot at the NCAA Division III championships in May.

Kurtis Brondyke added another win in the javelin throw, while Matt Graber took the shot put title. Sophomore Ben Schornack had a strong start to his outdoor campaign, winning the 1,500-meter run in a near-personal record of four minutes, 5.95 seconds before taking the 800 meters in 1:57.52.

The men’s 4×100-meter relay of Trevor Veach, Logan Danko, Kyle Wood, and Allen Scovel, cruised to an easy victory.

Junior Morgan Darrow wasted no time getting on the national performance list, winning the shot put with a mark of 43-0.5, over a foot beyond the NCAA-provisional standard.

On the track, Felicia Coleman rolled to a victory in the 200 meters while Mel McDermott won the 5,000 meters in a personal-best mark of 18:19.27.

The Dutch will play host to the Central Invitational next Saturday at Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium in Pella. Running events begin at 10 a.m. with field events slated for 11 a.m.

Tags: