Coach Haynes recognized for achievment

by Barry McNammara
Office of Sports Information

The Monmouth College indoor track and field teams again dominated the Midwest Conference Championships, the teams remain nationally-ranked and the program was once more represented at the national meet.

What’s new this year, though, is that Monmouth’s annual successes have been recognized by an outside source. Coach Roger Haynes was honored by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) as its Division III Men’s Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year for the Midwest Region.

“It’s a recognition of the success we’ve had,” said Haynes, who has guided Monmouth to 38 MWC men’s and women’s team titles since taking over the men’s program in 1984 and the women’s team in 2000. “I think it’s a recognition of what we’ve done over a number of years and the talented kids we’ve had in our program who have succeeded at the conference and national levels.”

He added, “It’s a recognition from some coaches who I’ve known for years, and it’s nice to be mentioned in the same sentence as them.”

In a brief release from the USTFCCCA, the men’s overwhelming win at the MWC meet, where they scored a school-record 277 points, was cited as one of Haynes’ significant accomplishments, as well as having three athletes qualify for the national meet.

That trio – middle distance runner Kel Bond and pole vaulters Peter Sprecher and Jonny Henkins – were not able to place in the top eight in their events at the meet, which was held in Northfield, Minn., last weekend. Haynes said he was still pleased that they had qualified and expects it won’t be their last national meet.

“It was a good experience for all of them,” he said. “It’s a starting point, and it will prepare them better for outdoor nationals. Old habits emerge under pressure, and I think that was the main factor. We talk about how repeating the performance that got you there will make you an All-American, and that would have been the case for all three of them.”

Both Sprecher and Henkins had cleared 16’0 during the season, but Henkins missed the opening height at the national meet and Sprecher cleared 15’1-3/4 to place 11th. Clearing 16’0 would have been good for eighth place.

In the 800-meter run, Bond had the 10th-fastest qualifying time (1:55.54). Had he run his season-best of 1:53.80 in both the preliminary race and the final, he would have placed fifth.

As a result, Monmouth did not score at the national meet, but they have earned a high score in a national rankings system that counts the top two performances by a team in every event. In the March 5 rankings, Monmouth’s men were fourth in the nation and less than a point behind third-place Nebraska Wesleyan. The top two spots are held by UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater.

“It’s something we look at,” said Haynes of the rankings. “It measures the depth of your program by looking at your performances across the board. It shows us that although some teams scored a lot of points at nationals, we’d be very close to them in a dual meet setting.”

Monmouth’s women, who also scored a school-record point total while winning the MWC meet, are ranked 21st in the nation.