Shelby Bradley | Staff Writer

On May 8 through May 10, several Buena Vista University (BVU) track athletes who qualified performed at the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) Championship track meet in Dubuque, Iowa at Loras College. For some of the athletes, it was their first appearance at the conference meet but others were veterans such as senior Peter Winterton and junior Maggie Marker who have made consecutive appearances at the meet.

Peter Winterton, from Storm Lake, Iowa, made a very strong appearance at the IIAC conference championship track meet. The highlight of his senior campaign was taking the conference title for the 400 meter dash, running it in 49.47 seconds. He also took the conference crown in the 4×400 meter relay, which consisted of senior Garrett Woodson, junior Seth Woodson, senior Ryan Eberly, and Winterton.

Winterton competed in the 4×100 meter relay finals along with seniors Christian Cottingham and Ryan Eberly, and junior Seth Woodson, who also took third place, running a time of 42.25 seconds. He also ran in the 200 meter dash finishing in sixth place.

For Marker, from Clarion, Iowa and an exercise science/human performance major, this was her third year competing at the IIAC championship track meet. Marker ran in the open 100 meter dash where she finished fourth in the finals with a time of 12.34, and the 200 meter dash finishing fourth as well with a time of 25.75. Marker also ran in the 4×100 meter relay placing second with a time of 47.71, breaking the school record set the previous year with the same group of girls including juniors Casey James, Laura Eberly and Katie Larsen. With this time, they are 14th in the nation giving them a chance to qualify for nationals, which will be taking place this coming weekend.

Marker also competed in the 4×400 meter relay with juniors Abby Hesnard and Katie Larsen, and freshman Mallory Spear. They beat their personal record with a time of 3:59, finishing sixth in the event.

“I always have to tell myself to just go out and compete at the IIAC championship meet to the best of my ability. We have a very talented conference and it gives me a chance to run against some very good runners who push me to run my fastest times at the end of each of my seasons,” Marker said.

Although Marker did not meet her overall goals of being all-conference in her events, which requires you to be in the top three overall places of the event, she ran her career bests this year in all four events.

“It is fun to see improvements each year not only from my personal times but our relay times as well. I have had a great opportunity to run with the same girls in the 4×100 relay for the last two years and it is fun to see us get faster each and every meet and year,” said Marker.

Both women and men’s track teams finished 6th overall in the conference championship meet.

Photo courtesy of Maggie Marker