Central College’s trip to the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships has already netted at least one first place finish, as standout Ethan Miller won the high jump on the opening day of competition.  

Miller’s leap of 6 feet, 11 inches set a new personal best, and came less than an hour after his runner-up finish in the long-jump.  Miller had started the day as the favorite to win the long jump, but his jump of 23 feet, 8.75 inches was not enough to catch eventual winner Kevin Coyle of Springfield College, who edged Miller by an inch-and-a-half.  

The expectations weren’t as lofty in the high jump, as Ethan entered the event ranked ninth nationally.  His leap was over two inches higher than his previous best, and ended up being one inch better than his nearest competitors.  

Completing the exciting first day of competition for the Dutch track and field squads was a second-consecutive All-American finish for Jill Ziskovsky, who took fifth in the pentathlon with 3,345 points.  

Central enters the second – and final – day of competition with the men’s team sitting in third place with 18 points, behind Wisconsin-Oshkosh (24) and North Central (23).  The Central women are in a tie for 17th place.  

Miller will try and claim another title today as the favorite in the men’s pentathlon, with teammate Kurtis Brondyke is also expected to finish well as he holds the country’s number two ranking in Division III.  Returning All-Americans Morgan Darrow and Matt Graber will compete in the women’s and men’s shot put, respectively, and the Central women’s 4×400-meter relay team will round out the day of competition.  

The NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships are being held at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.

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