The Simpson College men and women’s track and field teams competed at the 2013 IIAC Championships last weekend in Dubuque.

The Storm men placed fifth overall out of eight teams, concluding the meet with 80 team points. Central College won first place at the meet tallying 186 team points, barely edging close runner-ups in Wartburg College with 184 team points.

Highlighting the Storm men’s squad at the event included sophomore middle distance runner Joe Farrand receiving Track MVP honors. Farrand received the honor by winning both the 5,000-meter run on day one of the event, then waking up the next day by winning the 3,000-meter run. He ran the 5,000-meter run with a time of 15:22.08 and had ran the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:43.86.

The sophomore is the first Simpson track and field male performer to win the honor since 1997.

Simpson senior multi performer John Cord also was a first-place finisher in one of his respected events. Cord was crowned with the conference title by winning the long jump with a gigantic hop of 22 feet, 7 ¾ inches, beating his previous personal best of 22 feet, 6 ½ inches. The senior also finished in second place in the triple jump with a leap of 13.8 meters.

Other notables at the conference championship meet for the Storm men include the 4×200-meter relay team consisting a trio of sophomores in Aaron Arment, Devan Quam and Brice Sheeder, and junior Brad Vogel. The quartet finished in second with a school-record time of 1:30.22.

The other notable team of four competing in the 4×400-meter run came in fourth-place with a time of 3:26.81. That team included all sophomores in Arment, Quam, Sheeder and Anthony Burton.

Arment individually finished in second-place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.48 and the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.55. Vogel finished eight in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.76.

On the flipside for the Storm women’s track and field team, the squad finished the conference meet in eighth place overall with 31 team points. Wartburg won the event with a team score of 262 points, 135 points ahead of the second-place finisher in Luther College.

Notables for the female team at the two-day meet include a third-place finish by sophomore hurdler Bayley Fleshner in the 55-meter hurdlers. The native of Rockwell, Iowa completed the event with a time of 8.35.

Senior April Sigmund ran a time of 1:00.61 in the 400-meter run, finishing in fourth place. Senior Jamie Elbert took fifth-place in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:22.26.

The 4×800-meter relay team that consisted of Elbert, seniors Sammi Nelson, Brandi Schindel and junior Lindsey Borgomainerio placed fourth with a time of 9:55.28.

The final indoor event on tab for both track and field teams is the NCAA Indoor Championship meet, which will be held in Naperville, Ill. on Mar. 8-9. In just a little under three weeks from that point on, the Storm will open up the outdoor portion of their season at the Central Invitational in Pella, Iowa on Mar. 28. The starting race time for the outdoor event is yet to be determined.

Men final team scores at IIAC Championships:

1. Central – 186

2. Wartburg – 184

3. Dubuque – 107

4. Loras – 86

5. Simpson – 80

6. Luther – 42

7. Buena Vista – 35

8. Coe – 19

Women final team scores at IIAC Championships:

1. Wartburg – 262

2. Luther – 127

3. Central – 108

4. Loras – 95

5. Buena Vista – 40

6. Coe – 38.5

Dubuque – 38.5

8. Simpson – 31