Simpson opens indoor season in Pella
PELLA, Iowa – The Simpson College men's and women's track and field teams competed for the first time under the direction of head coach Aaron Fuller at the Dutch Holiday Preview hosted by Central on Friday evening.
"I am pleased with how we competed today," said Fuller. "We had a number of personal records and top-10 list performances, which is hard to do at the first December meet."
Max Cleveland posted the program's best time in the 300-meter dash since 1992 to win the event and pace the teams in Simpson's season-opener. In his first time competing in the event, Cleveland crossed the finish line in 35.64, the fastest mark since Marek Wensel's 33.10 race nearly 30 years ago.
In the men's 60-meter hurdles, Cleveland finished runner-up after qualifying for the finals with a career-best 8.29 mark. Brenden Godbout was close behind with a third-place result thanks to a 8.74 race, a new personal-best. Clarke Latcham (9.13), Blake DePhillips (9.27) and Tyler Williams (10.14) each competed in the finals as well.
"The men's hurdles was one of the highlights for our team as five of the eight finalists were from Simpson," said Fuller. "Max ran a fantastic race as he moved up on our top-10 performance list with a personal record. We also had two newcomers in that group, which is exciting for the future."
Aaliyah Johnson garnered the top result on the women's side after reaching 4 feet, 11 inches in the high jump to collect fifth-place honors. Alexis Crozier placed sixth in the weight throw with a personal-best throw of 36 feet, 11 inches and Sydney McCarron tossed the shot put 34 feet, 5.8 inches to end in sixth.
"I was very pleased with our women in the throwing events," said Fuller. "Alexis is already showing great improvement from last year and our newcomers competed well in their first collegiate outing."
Up Next
The Storm head back to Pella on Jan. 15 to compete at the Dutch Athletics Classic.
Women's Meet Report
60 - 10. Aryss Forbes, 8.61
Weight throw - 6. Alexis Crozier, 11.26m | 9. Sydney McCarron, 10.67m
Shot put - 6. Sydney McCarron, 10.51m | 8. Aaliyah Johnson, 9.39m | 9. Alexis Crozier, 9.15m
High Jump - 5. Aaliyah Johnson, 1.49m
Men's Meet Report
60 - 11. Blake DePhillips, 7.65
300 - 1. Max Cleveland, 35.64 | 9. Clarke Latcham, 38.76 | 10. Blake DePhillips, 38.84 | 11. Tyler Williams, 40.78
60 Hurdles - 2. Max Cleveland, 8.59 | 3. Brenden Godbout, 8.74 | 5. Clarke Latcham, 9.13 | 7. Tyler Williams, 10.14 | 7. Blake DePhillips, 9.27
Long Jump - 3. Carter Berkey, 6.58m | 4. Ulysses Patterson, 6.10m
