DMR, Berkey earn all-conference honors at A-R-C Championships
WAVERLY, Iowa -- The distance medley relay and long jumper Carter Berkey earned all-conference honors to lead the Simpson College men's track and field team at the American Rivers Conference Indoor Championships on Sunday, hosted at Wartburg College.
The Storm finished seventh overall with 15 top-10 results, including four top-five finishes to score 42 points. The Knights ended first, followed by Loras and Central to fill out the top three.
The quartet of James Murray, Steven Cruz-Castro, Clay Billheimer and Spencer Moon ran a time of 10:21.65 to break the school record in the distance medley relay en route to a runner-up performance behind Wartburg. The record clips the previous mark of 10:24.16 set in 2017 at the league championships.
We broke the school record in the distance medley relay with a time of 10:21.65 to finish second at the @AmerRiversConf Indoor Championships!
— Simpson Track&Field (@Simpson_TF) March 7, 2021
The quartet of Steven Cruz-Castro, Clay Billheimer, Spencer Moon and James Murray are all-conference!#ONESimpson | #rollriversTF pic.twitter.com/C8Yhnca3TA
Berkey leaped to third in the long jump with a personal-best distance of 6.77 meters, which occured on his first attempt in six tries. Berkey's previous best was 6.61 meters set at last year's A-R-C Indoor Championships.
Carter Berkey ends third in the long jump to receive all-conference honors at the @AmerRiversConf Indoor Championships!
— Simpson Track&Field (@Simpson_TF) March 7, 2021
Berkey leaped 6.77 meters for a career best!#ONESimpson | #rollriversTF pic.twitter.com/WjoR22ceEr
Max Cleveland, Brenden Godbout and Moon just missed the podium with fifth-place results in their respective events. Cleveland raced in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.59 seconds and Moon clocked 8:40.59 in the 3,000 meters. Godbout had a busy day in the pentathlon by scoring 3,046 points with the help of two third-place finishes in the 60-meter hurdles and the long jump.
Cleveland was close to collecting his second top-five placing of the afternoon in the 200 meters, but finished just shy in sixth with time of 22.78 seconds that is eighth fastest in program history. Elliott Meyer tallied sixth in the 60-meter hurdles after qualifying for the finals and Harry Dudley was inside the top 10 in the 5,000 meters in eighth. Seth Nostrala tallied 10th in the 3,000 meters.
Andrew Klein performed well in his first league championships by carding ninth in the mile. Klein's classmate, Murray, produced a season-best time of 1:57.61 in the 800 to tally eighth.
In the throwing events, Mason Spree collected seventh in the weight throw and 12th in shot put. Mac Roush had a toss of 12.78 meters in the weight throw for 12th to climb eight spots from last year's 20th-place showing at the league championships.
Up Next
Simpson will wait to see if the team qualified any participants for the Division III Elite Indoor Championships set for March 12-13 at Wartburg. The Storm open the outdoor season in the Central Invitational on April 1.
Men's Meet Report (top three)
60 — 18. Kellen Fitch, 7.56
200 — 6. Max Cleveland, 22.78 | 15. Kellen Fitch, 24.08
800 — 8. James Murray, 1:57.61
Mile — 9. Andrew Klein, 4:22.97 | 15. Cale Billheimer, 4:37.05 | 16. Jason White, 4:39.74
3000 — 5. Spencer Moon, 8:40.59 | 10. Seth Nostrala, 9:02.34 | 17. Marc Medici, 9:41.12
5000 — 8. Harry Dudley, 15:23.71 | 12. Ryan Courtney, 15:50.75
60 Hurdles — 5. Max Cleveland, 8.59 | 6. Elliott Meyer, 8.76
Distance Medley Relay — 2. James Murray, Steven Cruz-Castro, Clay Billheimer, Spencer Moon, 10:21.65
4x400 — 7. Steven Cruz-Castro, Max Cleveland, Ulysses Patterson, Brenden Godbout, 3:30.68
4x800 — 6. Clay Billheimer, Trent Pelzer, Andrew Klein, Cade Mash, 8:15.27
Pentathlon — 5. Brenden Godbout, 3,046 points
Long Jump — 3. Carter Berkey, 6.77m | 8. Ulysses Patterson, 6.49m
Triple Jump — 14. Carter Berkey, 1.32m
Weight Throw — 7. Mason Spree, 15.37m | 12. Mac Roush, 12.78m
Shot Put — 12. Mason Spree, 12.68m
