Baldus Throws His Way to Ohio, National Meet

Central College Senior discus thrower Theo Baldus got the mark he needed to likely qualify for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a new personal-best effort at the Augustana Midwest Twilight Qualifier Thursday night.

Baldus made the finals on his second of the three throws in the prelims. He reached 165 feet, 3 inches on his fifth throw to finish fourth in the meet. More importantly, he moved up to No. 17 on the qualifying list and into position to qualify for the national meet. Caroline McMartin entered the night at No. 19 in the country in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase. She finished second in the race in 11:03.98, which was not an improvement on her previous time, but nobody else in the country passed her and she remains No. 19 which is likely enough to qualify. Teammate Megan Johnson was fifth in the steeplechase in 11:18.09.

Noah Jorgenson was fifth in the 800-meter run in 1:51.74. Caleb Silver was seventh in the men’s steeplechase in 9:13.66 and Cutler Owens was ninth in 9:22.28. Alyssa Streigel had a season-best discus throw mark of 133-9, placing ninth.

The official qualifying list for the NCAA Division III Championships in Geneva, Ohio on May 26th-28th will be released today.

Lewton, Linahon Named to CoSIDA Academic All-District Squads

Recently graduated Central College women’s tennis player Alyssa Lewton and current wrestler Gage Linahon were announced as selections to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Division III Academic All-District 8 At-Large teams Thursday afternoon.

To be eligible for consideration, a student-athlete must be a starter or key reserve at the varsity level and achieve a 3.30 or better cumulative grade point average. Both are now under consideration for Academic All-America honors. The at-large category includes athletes from 14 different sports.

A double major in Spanish and sociology, Lewton maintained a 3.94 GPA. Lewton was 8-12 in singles matches during the 2021-22 season, playing primarily in the No. 1 and No. 2 slots. Her doubles record was 13-8, including a 4-0 run to the American Rivers Conference Tournament title in the A Flight with partner Maddie Hartley. Her career record ended at 19-19 in singles and 29-19 in doubles.

Linahon qualified for the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships while maintaining a 3.99 GPA as an accounting major. He was 26-9 during the 2021-22 season, placing in the top three at four different tournaments. He’s a two-time NWCA Scholar All-American and also received academic all-conference recognition in 2021-22.

Lewton becomes the eighth member of the Dutch women’s tennis team to earn Academic All-District accolades and Linahon is the second Dutch wrestler to receive the honor.