Decker-Dunham-NCAA-5-26-16

Two more all-America performances carried the Central College men’s track and field team to its seventh top-10 outdoor finish at the NCAA Division III Championships Saturday.

The Dutch were sixth overall with 24 points, their highest finish since 2001, after getting a third-place performance in school-record time from Dan Roemerman (senior, Iowa City) in the 110-meter hurdles and a seventh-place effort from Cole Decker (senior, Des Moines, Dowling Catholic HS) in the 5,000 meters.

Meanwhile, there were five Dutch women’s all-America honorees as the 4×100-meter relay unit of Abi Davis (senior, Des Moines, Dowling Catholic HS), Ashlee Downs (senior, Urbandale, West Des Moines Valley HS), Monica Ruiz (senior, Hudson) and Hope Heitman (freshman, Guttenberg, Clayton Ridge HS) finished seventh and the team of Downs, Kate Patton (sophomore, Murray), Heitman and Davis was also seventh in the 4×400-meter relay. That pushed Central to a tie for 58th in the women’s team standings with four points.

Wis.-La Crosse captured the men’s title with 41, followed by Wis.-Eau Claire with 33. Wis.-Whitewater edged Central by a point for fifth with 25, while Wesley (Del.) was seventh with 23. There were no other Iowa Conference teams in the top 50.

It’s the 13th time Central’s men have recorded a top-20 finish.

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