Posted: May 14, 2022

Johnson, 4x800 lead women at A-R-C Championships

DUBUQUE, Iowa – Spencer Moon was crowned champion in the 5000 meters and placed third in the 10,000 meters, Carter Berkey finished third in the long jump, and the Simpson College men's and women's track and field team took sixth and ninth place, respectively, at the 2022 American Rivers Conference Championships.

No. 7 Wartburg secured the women's title with 231 points followed by No. 2 Loras (224) in second and No. 15 Dubuque (109) in third. The men's trophy went to 12th-ranked Dubuque which tallied 194 team points. No. 13 Wartburg placed second with 181 points and No. 14 Loras finished third with 160.

In the third to last event of the championships, Moon won the 5000-meter run to become Simpson's first outdoor conference champion since 2018 and the first distance runner to earn a title since 2012. The Lake City, Iowa native crossed the finish line in 14:53.00, winning the event by five seconds and securing his second all-conference award of the weekend.

Moon's first all-conference honor was on Friday evening in the 10,000-meter run. With a time of 30:45.29, he placed third for the second-straight year.

Berkey earned a podium finish in the long jump to lead the team in field events. The Indianola, Iowa product leaped nearly a foot and a half farther than his previous career-high to place third with a mark of 7.12 meters, earning his first all-conference award since taking third in the long jump at the 2021 A-R-C Indoor Championships.

Ulysses Patterson placed fifth in the decathlon and Aaliyah Johnson took fifth in the heptathlon to lead Simpson in the multi-events. Patterson totaled 6186 points highlighted by a first place finish in the 400 (50.99) and second place in the long jump (6.54m), while Johnson tallied 3541 points with a runner-up finish in the shot put (10.22m) and third place finish in the high jump (1.47m).

Other top performances for the Storm included sixth place finishes for James Murray in the 1500 meters and Harry Dudley in the 10,000 meters. All three women's relays clocked season-best times highlighted by the 4x800 team of Abby Loecke, Emma Angus, Kyli Orr, and Mackenzie Laughlin earning four team points with a fifth place finish in 9:55.86.

Up Next
The Storm will have one last opportunity to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships when they compete at the Augustana Midwest Twilight on May 19.

Men's Meet Report
400 hurdles - 9. Brenden Godbout, 57.20
800 - 15. Akol Atack, 2:00.48 | 19. Adam Gruhn, 2:02.29 | 23. Brody Wirtz, 2:04.67 | 27. Christian French, 2:05.85
1500 - 6. James Murray, 3:52.43 | 12. Harry Dudley, 4:00.32 | 15. Cade Mash, 4:02.95 | 31. Andrew Klein, 4:27.25
Steeplechase - 9. Ryan Courtney, 9:43.37 | 14. Shane Breheny, 10:01.66 | 21. Marc Medici, 10:48.50
5000 - 1. Spencer Moon, 14:53.00 | 15. Ryan Courtney, 15:41.78 | 18. Ean Warrick, 15:55.44
10000 - 3. Spencer Moon, 30:45.29 | 6. Harry Dudley, 31:39.20 | 12. Louden Foster, 32:58.04
Discus - 24. Michael Madeira, 28.83m
Javelin - 20. Carter Berkey, 38.20m
Long jump - 3. Carter Berkey, 7.12m
Triple jump - 11. Carter Berkey, 13.12m
Decathlon - 5. Ulysses Patterson, 6186 | 7. Clarke Latcham, 5521
4x100 - 9. Clarke Latcham, Carter Berkey, Brenden Godbout, Ulysses Patterson, 43.99
4x400 - 8. Brenden Godbout, Trent Pelzer, Adam Gruhn, James Murray, 3:31.78