Simpson wins five events at Dutch Athletics Classic

PELLA, Iowa – The Simpson College men's and women's track and field teams started the 2022 portion of the indoor schedule with five gold medals at the Dutch Athletics Classic hosted by Central.

Max Cleveland, Drew Klein and Jason White all won events on the men's side, while Emma Angus and Abby Loecke paced the women with a pair of first-place finishes.

The men tallied 85 points to place third as a team and the women came in fourth with 74 points.

"Our team had a good start today," said Aaron Fuller, head track and field coach. "I am pleased with how we competed against some other A-R-C schools. Seeing them early and having a chance to compete will help us as we develop through the season and prepare for the bigger meets to come."

Just one meet after running the team's fastest 300-meter dash in nearly 30 years, Cleveland continued his hot start to the indoor season by winning gold in the 60-meter hurdles and finishing fourth in the 60-meter dash. He completed the 60-meter hurdles in 8.34 and clocked a 7.35 in the 60-meters after qualifying for the finals with a career-best 7.20 mark.

In the mile, White clipped his career-best by a fraction of a second as he crossed the finish line in 4:39.13 to garner gold in the event, a hair ahead of Missouri Valley's Khobi Kellerman who ran the mile in 4:39.67. On the women's side, Angus took home the title with a 5:43.43 race and Simpson had four runners finish in the top-five.

Klein finished the 1000-meter run well ahead of his competitors with a 2:41.78 time, almost 13 seconds faster than Kaleb Bramman of Central who finished second. Loecke rounded out the Storm's event winners with a 1:51.12 time in the 600-meter race.

In the field events, Carter Berkey soared 6.47 meters in the long jump to earn second place behind Central's Brock Lewis (6.99m) and Sydney McCarron improved her weight throw by over a foot to highlight the day.

On Friday evening, Aaliyah Johnson (2372), Clarke Latcham (2906) and Brendan Godbout (2175) all competed in the Dutch Early Bird Pentathlon.

Up Next
The Storm head to Lincoln, Neb. for the Prairie Wolf Invitational hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan on Jan. 21.

Women's Meet Report
60 - 4. Aryss Forbes, 8.74 (8.66q)
200 - 7. Aryss Forbes, 28.99
600 - 1. Abby Loecke, 1:51.12 | 3. Angel Schewe, 1:54.92 | 4. Emily Erhardt, 1:57.43 | 6. Isabella Mertens, 2:10.23
1000 - 3. Kyli Orr, 3:25.54 | 4. Abby Loecke, 3:25.93 | 5. Angel Schewe, 3:36.81 | 6. Emily Erhardt, 3:38.68
Mile - 1. Emma Angus, 5:43.43 | 3. Cat Lucht, 5:56.39 | 4. Kaya Young, 6:07.40 | 5. Teghan Booth, 6:07.75
Weight throw - 15. Sydney McCarron, 11.27m | 16. Alexis Crozier, 10.96m
Shot put - 11. Sydney McCarron, 10.17m | 17. Alexis Crozier, 9.10m
Pentathlon - 3. Aaliyah Johnson, 2372

Men's Meet Report
60 hurdles - 1. Max Cleveland, 8.34 (8.40q) | Tyler Williams 10.20 (prelims)
60 - 4. Max Cleveland, 7.35 (7.20q)
200 - 14. Ulysses Patterson, 24.73 | 18. Tyler Williams, 26.44
400 - 6. Blake Dephillips, 55.83
600 - 3. Adam Gruhn, 1:29.44 | 5. Cade Mash, 1:31.62 | 7. Trent Pelzer, 1:33.77
1000 - 1. Drew Klein, 2:41.78 | 4. Adam Gruhn, 3:00.65 | 5. Cade Mash, 3:01.90 | 7. Trent Pelzer, 3:09.48
Mile - 1. Jason White, 4:39.13 | 3. Shane Breheny, 4:44.45 | 5. Ean Warrick, 4:48.23 | 7. Marc Medici, 4:50.90 | 9. Corbin Truitt, 4:55.94 | 10. Hank Gardner, 4:56.44 | 11. Blake Croushore, 4:58.39 | 13. Miles Combs, 5:24.34
Long jump - 2. Carter Berkey, 6.47m | 5. Ulysses Patterson, 5.94m
Pentathlon - 3. Clarke Latcham, 2906 | 5. Brendan Godbout, 2175