Central Men and Women Land NCAA Cross Country Team Berths

For the first time in school history, both the Central College men’s and women’s cross country teams have been selected to compete in the NCAA Division III Championships.

The national meet will be staged next Saturday at Big Spring High School in Newville, Pennsylvania with the 8,000-meter men’s race starting at 11 a.m. Eastern Time and the 6,000-meter women’s race starting at noon. There were 32 teams selected for the meet, with the winners of the 10 regional meets on Saturday earning automatic bids and being joined by 22 at-large squads. The fields were announced Sunday.

Ranked No. 16 in Division III by the USTFCCCA, the Central women placed third in the Midwest Regional at Waverly and were among four teams from the region selected. #5 Wartburg College won the meet, followed by the #2 University of Chicago, Central and #11 Washington University-St. Louis (Mo.). Central’s men, rated #21, placed fourth in the regional. #2 North Central College (Ill.) won the meet, followed by #5 Wartburg College, #15 Washington-St. Louis, Central. #34 Loras College was fifth and was also selected.

Both Central teams were represented at national meets in 1980, but that was before the NCAA first staged championships for women. The Central women traveled to Burien, Washington for the AIAW Division III meet that year while the men were at the NCAA meet in Rochester, New York.

The Central men are making their eighth national appearance as a team and have had at-large individuals compete in 12 other meets. They previously made the trip as a team in 1973, 1974, 1980, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015. Their highest finish was sixth in 2013.  

It’s the third appearance for Caleb Silver who, as an individual qualifier, was 89th in 2021 and 25th last year to gain all-America honors. It’s the second appearance for Noah Jorgenson, who was 79th last year.

The Women ranked No. 16–The women are making their third NCAA national team appearance, although they also competed in the AIAW Division III national meet in 1979 and 1980. The Dutch competed in the first-ever Division III women’s meet in 1981 in Kenosha, Wisconsin and won the national title. Central also made the trip in 2009.

It’s the 17th time the Dutch women have been represented overall and the third consecutive national meet appearance for Caroline McMartin, who qualified as an at-large individual in 2021, placing 118th, and in 2022, finishing 24th and gaining all-America distinction. McMartin was second in Saturday’s regional at Waverly, Central’s highest individual regional finish since Cam Ratering won the 1981 race. 

The squad will travel to Pennsylvania Thursday.

34 for Van Gorp as Central Men Rally for Basketball Win

It was trending towards a tense finish but turned into a runaway as the Central College men’s basketball team overpowered Principia College (Ill.) 96-77 Sunday behind a 34-point, 14-rebound effort by center Josh Van Gorp.

The Dutch (2-0) completed a weekend sweep at the Loras Mike Moklestead Motors Tipoff Classic, despite a stumble at the start which saw Principia (0-2) bolt to a 19-4 lead in the first 5 minutes and 36 seconds. Central was still down 29-19 with 6:39 left and had to scramble to enter halftime at 40-40. After taking a 54-42 lead in the first 3 minutes of the second half, the Dutch saw their advantage melt to 58-57 with 11:56 remaining before taking control.

Forward Grant Johnson had 11 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and three blocks. Meanwhile Kaleb Brand delivered some much-needed outside scoring punch with 17 points, including three 3-pointers. The double-double for Van Gorp was the fifth of his career and the 34 points were two shy of his career best.

With its third game in five days, Central makes its home-season debut Tuesday with a 7 p.m. contest with Cornell College at P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium.