Vogel flies as track & field wins eight events at Central

PELLA, Iowa – Brad Vogel has had a lot of success in his career at Simpson, but his performance Wednesday stands as one of the best.

The all-region football player and 55-meter conference champion ran two of the fastest times in school history at the Central Invitational, winning the 100 and 200-meter dash.

The men's and women's track and field teams combined to win eight events in the final meet before next week's Kip Janvrin Open and the Drake Relays.

Vogel crossed the finish line in 10.66 in the 100 meters, the No. 2 time in school history and fastest since 1984, when Jeff Nielsen set the current record of 10.47. He crossed in 21.85 in the 200, the No. 3 time in school history and fastest since 1993.

Both times are tops in the Iowa Conference, though his 100-meter time won't qualify for the national list because it was wind-aided.

"Today was a really good day for our sprinters to run fast, wind legal or not," head coach Dave Cleveland said.

Not all events had the luxury of running with the strong South wind, making longer events a challenge. Despite the elements, Cleveland was happy with his team's performance.

"I liked how everyone sucked it up and competed," he said. "It was fun to see the kids respond."

The men's team also got first place efforts from freshmen Trevor McKee and Matt Pearson. Mckee won the 400 hurdles in 57.50 for his first career win and Pearson won the 400 in 52.48 for his first career win in the event.

Pearson joined Leif Jeppson, Triston Twedt and Anthony Burton on the winning 4x400-meter relay team. The foursome registered a 3:28.07.

Freshman Isaac Frazier had a productive day, taking third in the 100 hurdles (15.79), high jump (6 feet, 6 inches) and triple jump (41 feet, 5 3/4 inches).

The Storm men dominated the 3,000 meters, taking the No. 2-5 spots. Ethan Pellegrino led the pack to place second (9:34.82), followed by Blake Willadsen (9:35.34), Bryce Phillips(9:36.15) and Andrew Mayes (9:39.06).

On the women's side, Bayley Fleshner won the 100 hurdles and anchored the winning 4x1 and 4x4 teams.

Fleshner ran 15.18 in the finals to win the hurdles despite battling a strong tail wind. She teammed up with Larissa Backhaus, Lauren Martin and Sarah Galbraith in the 4x100-meter relay (51.13) and Martin, Backhaus and Sarah Ney in the 4x400-meter relay (4:14.39).

Martin had a good day individually as well, running a career-best 12.45 to place second in the 100. The time is the fourth-fastest in school history.

Simpson also got second-place efforts from Lindsey Borgomainerio in the 800 (2:27.04) and Galbraith in the 400 hurdles (1:13.29).

Hannah Moulds placed third in the long jump (16-2 1/4) and Jessie Eyerly and Backhaus placed third and fourth, respectively, in the 400. Eyerly ran 1:03.82 and Backhaus 1:05.91.

Simpson hosts the Kip Janvrin Open on April 24-15 and will compete at the Drake Relays the same weekend.