Dutch Men Tie for League Track Crown; Women 13th in U.S.
Larry Happel '81
May 22, 2015
Central captured a share of its fourth Iowa Conference men’s indoor track crown in the past six years, while the Dutch women’s program rose to new heights.
At the league meet, Central and Wartburg each scored 176 points as the Dutch snared three individual titles. Multi-eventer Eric Larson shined, winning the 60-meter hurdles and long jump, took second in the high jump and fifth in the pole vault.
Senior Jamie Vander Veer earned all-American distinction with a sixth-place finish in the mile at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships.
The Central women were a surprising second, claiming four individual titles after finishing fifth in the league a year ago.
Senior Camie Kibee and her teammates pulled a surprise in the 4×400-meter relay, taking fourth at the national meet and helping the Dutch score a 13th-place team finish, the program’s best since 2002.
The roll continued at the NCAA Division III meet in Winston-Salem, N.C., tying for 13th. It’s Central’s highest women’s national finish since 2002 and the program’s second-highest indoor finish ever. Junior sprinter Abi Davis raced to fourth in the 60-meter dash (7.67 seconds) and fifth in the 200 (25.27 seconds). She earned all-America distinction in a third event, leading off the 4×400-meter relay unit of freshman Kate Patton, senior Camie Kibbee and senior Allie McBroom. They shaved four seconds off their previous best, finishing in 3:51.34 to take fourth place.
Meanwhile senior Jamie Vander Veer also pulled a surprise, taking sixth in the mile (4:13.89).