PELLA—For the second time in his Central College men’s cross country career, senior Cole Decker (Des Moines/Dowling Catholic HS) has been named the Iowa Conference male athlete of the week.

Along with Decker, linebacker Mitch Schroeder (senior, Lowden/North Cedar HS) and kicker Aaron Marcellus (junior, Hudson) took home conference players of the week for defense and special teams, respectively.

Decker wins league title—Decker won his second straight Iowa Conference title Saturday and has now finished in the top three in all four of his league championship races. Decker became the first back-to-back winner since 2009-10 and has now been all-conference four consecutive years. His time of 26:17 led the Dutch to a second-place finish, just seven points out of first. Decker also was the male athlete of the week Nov. 2, 2014.

Decker and the Dutch cross country squad will race next at the NCAA Division III Central Regional Nov. 14. Central will host the event that is scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m.

Schroeder seals the victory—With just eight seconds left in Saturday’s conference contest at Simpson, the Storm were on the Dutch 22-yard line, trailing 31-24. Enter Mitch Schroeder. With Simpson quarterback Caleb Frye trying to send the game to overtime, Schroeder made a leaping interception at the Dutch eight-yard line, sealing Central’s third conference win. It was Schroeder’s third pick of the year. He also added six tackles, one for loss, and a sack. Schroeder now has 67 tackles on the season.

Marcellus is perfect— Marcellus’ 32-yard fourth-quarter field goal tied the game at 24 before Central went on to win 31-24 over Simpson Saturday in Indianola. He was perfect on PATs, nailing all four of his opportunities. Marcellus is now 4-7 on field goals this season with a long of 42. He has made 28 of his 32 extra-point attempts.

The Dutch football team will play their final home game Saturday against Buena Vista. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium.

Story provided by Alex Cooper