The American Rivers Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships started Friday and the Central College women’s track & field team had four top-three individual finishes.

Through six of 18 events, the Dutch women are in third with 37 points, while the Central men are in seventh place with six points through five events. 

Setting a new championship meet record, Megan Johnson was victorious in the women’s 5,000-meter run in 17 minutes, 2.79 seconds. Sara Goodenbour, Lizzy Van Utrecht, Hadyn Miller and Leah Bontrager took second in the women’s distance medley relay in 12:33.07. The men’s distance medley relay team of Mason Back, Jrake Van Hemert, Blake Creed, and Caleb Silver placed sixth in 10:26.89. 

Olivia Bohlen took second-place in the women’s pentathlon with 3,460 points and her total is the second-best score in program history. Junior Karsyn Lamm added a team point with an eighth-place finish in the pentathlon (2,496 points). Women’s pole vaulter Amber Vroman took second by clearing 11 feet, 0.75 inches, and teammate Leah Howard was sixth after going over the bar at 9-7.

Kale Purcell chipped in a point by finishing eighth in the men’s long jump (21-5.5) and Gavin Smith was also eighth in the men’s pole vault (13-3.5). Five Central men are in position to score in the heptathlon after four events, led by Gage Huyser who is in second with 2,633 points. Reid Pakkebier is in third (2,628 points), Gavin Smith is in fourth (2,619 points), Kale Hobart is in fifth (2,600 points), and Jaxon Thompson is in seventh (2,529 points). Pakkebier, Grant Miller and Connor Miklos all advanced to the finals in the men’s 60-meter hurdles race, qualifying fifth (8.31 seconds), sixth (8.33) and seventh (8.34). Bohlen also qualified third in the women’s 60-meter hurdles race (9.23 seconds), while Ava Parkins and Emily McMartin qualified fifth (7.90 seconds) and sixth (7.92 seconds) for Saturday’s finals in the women’s 60-meter dash, respectively.

Day two of the conference meet starts today at 10 a.m.