Dropping a few seconds off their previous best time this season, the Central College women’s track and field team’s distance medley relay squad confirmed its spot at next weekend’s national meet with its effort at the Wartburg Qualifier.

There were no team scores kept and Central had entries in just a few events this weekend. On Friday night, the women’s distance medley relay team of Addison Parrott, Emly McMartin, Alivia Roerdink, and Peyton Steffen finished second while improving their season-best time to 11 minutes, 47.51 seconds. They are sitting squarely in position to make another trip to nationals after Central finished runner-up last season.

McMartin ran the third leg of the 4×400-meter relay, helping the team to a season-best mark of 3:53.60 to place sixth. She was joined by Mary Gustason, Lizzy Van Utrecht and Ava Parkins. The group is likely on the outside looking in for a trip to the national meet. The men’s DMR squad of Derek Webster, Jrake Van Hemert, Jack Every and Jack Brown also improved their best time of the season, finishing fourth in 10:05.87, but the improvement was likely not enough to get them to the national meet.

Individually, Connor Miklos was second in the 60-meter hurdles in a new personal-best time of 8.15 seconds, and Parkins also set a new standard for herself in the 400 meters with a third place finish in 57.41 seconds

Central’s official qualifiers to the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships in Rochester, New York next weekend will be released today.