Central Men 13th in Minnesota Cross Country Meet
Competing against primarily NCAA Division II and NAIA opponents, the Central College men’s cross country team took 13th in a 31-team field at the Roy Griak Invitational Friday.
The Dutch, which made a big jump to No. 23 in the USTFCCCA Division III national rankings this week had 291 points. The Dutch were the highest of four Division III finishers in the field with a comfortable advantage over 14th-place Grinnell College, which had 410 points. American Rivers Conference foe Luther College was 19th with 578 points and Clarke University was 29th with 883. Central’s Noah Jorgenson took 24th in 26:24.4 on the 8,000-meter course. William Wadsley climbed to 57th (26:59.4), Caleb Silver was 58th (27:00.4), Adam Sylvia was 84th (27:20.1) and Donovan Card was 100th (27:30.8), Central’s other two varsity finishers were Derek Webster, who was 139th in 27:56.4 and Ben DeValk was 165th in 28:19.0.
Central races next on Saturday, September 30th at the Dan Huston Invitational in Waverly.
Central Women’s Cross Country Team Improves on Minnesota Finish
Competing in a mammoth 35-team field, the No. 23-ranked Central College women’s cross country team placed eighth at the Roy Griak Invitational Saturday, two spots better than a year ago.
The field is largely comprised of NCAA Division II and NAIA schools. Central finished with 217 points and was the best of four NCAA Division III entrants. Grinnell College was 17th with 532 points, Luther College was 18th with 562 and Clarke University was 27th with 753. Central’s Caroline McMartin was 13th individually in 22:50.0 on the 6,000-meter course after placing 19th in 23:17 in last year’s meet. Megan Johnson was 16th in 22:52.9. Addison Parrott was 49th in 23:53.4, Lindsey Davidson was 69th in 24:14.8, a 55-second improvement over a year ago, and Peyton Steffen finished 82nd in 24:26.9. Central’s other two varsity finishers were Leah Bontrager, who was 115th in 24:53.8 and Kira Hooper, who was 143rd in 25:16.3, a 31-second jump.
The Dutch compete again on Saturday, September 30th, at the Dan Huston Invitational in Waverly.
Dutch Women Compete at Regional Tennis Meet
Facing some of the best players in the region, the Central College women’s tennis team sent four athletes to the ITA Division III Midwest Regional Friday.
Central’s No. 1 singles player Jennifer Larson lost to Ashley Adkisson from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 6-1, 6-0. The No. 2 player, Madi Whalen lost 6-0, 6-2 against Mishell Benitez of The College of St. Scholastica (Minn.). Jenna Hernandez dropped her match 6-1, 6-1 to Brooke Haddorff of Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.). Becca Vala also lost 6-2, 6-0 to Emma Heinert of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Larson and Whalen lost 8-2 in doubles to Anna Lee and Liv Herzog of the University of Wis. – Eau Claire. Hernandez and Vala lost 8-4 to Maia Samuelson and Izzy Brinkman of Wis.-La Crosse 8-4.
The Dutch athletes will play in consolation matches Saturday.
Dutch Men’s Duo Wins Conference B-Flight Doubles
For the fourth year in a row, the Central College men’s tennis team had the winning pairing of the B-Flight doubles at the American Rivers Conference Individual Championships Friday.
Rain in Pella rearranged the tournament to focus on the three doubles brackets Friday and moved most of singles play to Saturday. In the A-Flight of doubles, Nick Scott and Travis Subbert won twice to advance to the quarterfinals. They opened with a 6-2 win over Issac Hinze and Jackson Zenner of Coe College and followed up with a 7-6 (7-5) win over Felipe Biscaro and Tiago de Felicio from Luther College. They fell 7-6 (7-3) in the quarterfinals to the No. 4 seed Luke Doig and Graham Peterson of Coe College. AJ Wilkins and Ernest Alvarez Chedzoy continued Central’s streak of winning the B-Flight doubles with a 4-0 day, ending with a 6-3 win over Rhys Biro-Moore and Gennaro Dimuro over Luther College. Ayden Fletcher and Alex Slaymaker’s only loss came against Wilkins and Alvarez Chezoy, finishing in third place in the B-Flight. Gavin Jablonski and Cashen Thompson took second in the C-Flight of doubles, winning a pair of matches.
The remainder of the singles matches will start at 9 a.m. in Pella.