Cornell men claim IIAC titles in mile, distance medley and 4x800 relays

Cornell College senior Kirkwood Donavin pulled off a rare hat trick by winning the men's mile and anchoring two championship relays at the Iowa Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships Friday and Saturday at Kuyper Fieldhouse in Pella.

Donavin became the first Ram to claim three event titles in a single IIAC meet. For his efforts Donavin was named the IIAC's Most Valuable Men's Track Performer, also a first in the Cornell program.

The Cornell men earned all-conference honors (top-three finish) in six events with seven athletes receiving all-IIAC accolades. The Rams placed fifth in the men's team race with 67.3 points, both program-bests in the league. Cornell finished only 1.17 points behind fourth-place Loras and 7.67 behind third-place Luther.

“We were right there for fourth place after finishing sixth a year ago,” Cornell head coach Lonnie Speidel said. “It was a nice battle to the end, which is what we expected.”

The Rams set two school records on the women's side and wound up seventh with 34 points.

The story again belonged to Donavin, who on Monday was voted the IIAC Male Track Performer of the Week for the fourth time this indoor season. Donavin captured the mile crown in an IIAC-meet record 4 minutes, 18.01 seconds, erasing the previous mark of 4:19.12 set by Simpson's Eric Patten in 2009. He finished 1.40 seconds ahead of runner-up Kyle Heineman of Coe.

Donavin took the Rams home to victories in the 4x800 and distance medley relays, both races in which the team led start to finish. The 4x800 relay repeated as conference champions. The group, which featured juniors Adam Rooyakkers, Chris Stadler and Scott Riedel, blazed around the track in 8:02.75 for a seven-plus second margin over Wartburg.

The Rams also ran away with a title and school record in the distance medley, which included Rooyakkers, junior Reed Skoog, Stadler and Donavin. The unit finished in 10:26.94, more than five seconds ahead of runner-up Wartburg and topping the previous school mark of 10:30.99 set in 2009.

“Donavin was a big reason to those two relay titles,” Speidel said. “If he's not there, it's a different story. I was real happy to see him honored as the men's most valuable track performer of the meet. He went up against some other quality nominees.”

Junior Chase Nowak was all-conference in a pair of distance races. He took second in the 3000 (8:50.67), just behind Luther's Shane Steele (8:49.94). Nowak placed third in the 5000 in a season-best 15:34.95. Senior Andrew Tobben finished fifth in both races.

Freshman Anthony Bridges earned all-IIAC status in the pole vault. He cleared 13-05.25 and finished in a three-way tie for second.

The Cornell women's 4x800 relay posted a school-record time of 9:52.89, replacing the old mark of 9:55.90 set in 2009. Senior Allison Newman anchored the relay of freshmen Laura Ettlin and Arden Stewart and sophomore Lauren Seeman. They finished less than a second short of an all-conference medal.

The distance medley also took fourth, anchored by senior Allie Jagielo in 12:51.40. Jagielo took down Rachelle Hawkins' school mark (10:31.93 in 2008) in the 3000 with a fifth-place time of 10:30.57. Elise Mead finished sixth in the 3000 and fifth in the 5000.

Sophomore Christal Harris finished fifth in both the long jump (15-08.75) and triple jump (34-10.50). Senior Madison Craw came in fourth in the shot put with an NCAA provisional 43-10.50.

Coming up – The Rams will have a couple athletes compete in last chance meets this weekend, leading up to the NCAA Division III Championships March 11-12 in Bexley, Ohio.

Harris will compete in the women's pentathlon Friday in Whitewater, Wis. Donavin will run the mile at the Cyclone Qualifier Saturday in Ames.

Iowa Conference Indoor Championships

Fri.-Sat., Feb. 25-26

Central College

Pella, Iowa

Final women's team standings – 1. Wartburg 251, 2. Central 118.5, 3. Luther 91, 4. Loras 85.5, 5. Coe 64, 6. Simpson 63, 7. Cornell 34, T8. Dubuque and Buena Vista 17.

Cornell results

55 – Ariel Harris 8.03, Elsie Freland 8.58, Laura Sanchez-Lopez 8.93. 200 – 26. A. Harris 29.44, 28. Freland 30.43, 29. Kelsey Remeikis 31.81. 400 – 22. Remeikis 1:10.48. 800 – 16. Hilary Swift 2:32.46. Mile – 13. Claudia Gonzalez 5:46.02, 14. Maria Helgeson 6:04.18, 16. Mia LaBrier 6:11.53. 3000 – 5. Allie Jagielo 10:30.57, 6. Elise Mead 10:32.74, 10. Andrea Aerts 10:55.01. 5000 – 5. Mead 18:26.63. 55 hurdles – C. Harris 10.58. 4x200 – 9. (C. Harris, A. Harris, Freland, Anna Guittar) 1:57.09. 4x400 – 8. (C. Harris, Swift, Guittar, Arden Stewart) 4:27.95. 4x800 – 5. (Ettlin, Stewart, Lauren Seeman, Allison Newman) 9:52.89. Distance medley – 4. (Ettlin, Stewart, Newman, Jagielo) 12:51.40. High jump – 11. Melissa Kraker 4-08.25. Pole vault – 10. Amanda Houts 8-06.25, 13. Michelle Hannemann 8-00.50. Long jump – 5. C. Harris 15-08.75. Triple jump – 5. C. Harris 34-10.50. Shot put – 4. Madison Craw 43-10.50*, 11. Raquel Ristau 36-07.75, 13. Kelsey Harper 32-10.25. Weight throw – 9. Ristau 43-03, 10. Craw 42-05.25, 12. Harper 41-05.75, 15. Angela Dugan 37-10.75.

*NCAA provisional mark

Final men's team standings – 1. Central 212.16, 2. Wartburg 183, 3. Luther 75, 4. Loras 68.5, 5. Cornell 67.3, 6. Coe 44, 7. Dubuque 35, 8. Simpson 33, 9. Buena Vista 23.

Cornell results

55 – Andrew Harter 6.81, 21. Vincent Osborne 6.99. 200 – 20. Osborne 24.41, 28. Chris Sedar 25.86. 400 – 9. Reed Skoog 52.75, 10. Harter 52.94, 15. Matt McGowan 53.26. 800 – 18. Carsen Kuesel 2:11.68, 20. Josh Randall 2:13.16. Mile – 1. Kirkwood Donavin 4:18.01#, 13. Jordan Kemme 4:41.06, 19. CJ Horan 4:53.46, 21. Ben Swerdlow 4:56.56. 3000 – 2. Chase Nowak 8:50.67, 5. Andrew Tobben 8:56.30, 13. Ben Jacobs 9:13.90. 5000 – 3. Nowak 15:34.95, 5. Tobben 15:41.51, 8. Jacobs 15:49.06. 4x200 – 8. (Osborne, McGowan, Zach Nelson, Harter) 1:37.32. 4x400 – 5. (McGowan, Skoog, Adam Rooyakkers, Harter) 3:32.44. 4x800 – (Rooyakkers, Chris Stadler, Scott Riedel, Donavin) 8:02.75. Distance medley – 1. (Rooyakkers, Skoog, Stadler, Donavin) 10:26.94. High jump – 8. Roli Teko-Folly 5-10.75, 10. Tyrel Garner 5-08.75. Pole vault – 2. Anthony Bridges 13-05.25, 10. Kemme 12-11.50. Triple jump – 12. Garner 39-07. Shot put – 21. Jonathan Araujo 38-07.75, 23. Marshall Kraker 38-04, 27. Jackson Engstrom 37-03.25. Weight throw – 20. Araujo 33-03.25, 21. Engstrom 29-06. Pentathlon – 7. Kraker 2,760.

# Iowa Conference record