March 9, 1998 

GALESBURG, IL -- Monmouth College became the first Midwest Conference school to win four consecutive men's indoor track and field titles and the Fighting Scot women won their third in a row at this weekend's 1998 MWC Indoor Track & Field Championships. The conference meet was held Friday and Saturday at the Fleming Fieldhouse at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois and featured entries from nine of the league's ten member schools.

Monmouth scored 160 points in both men's and women's divisions to sweep the indoor team titles for the third straight season. Lawrence (100) and Carroll (91) finished 2-3 in the final women's standings while Grinnell (118) and Carroll (89) placed second and third in the men's meet. Counting outdoor titles, the Scots have now won a school-record seven consecutive MWC men's team trophies since 1995 and the women have captured five in a row.

Senior Heather Furrow (Kirkwood,IL/Yorkwood) was voted the meet MVP on the women's side and scored in five events, including three winning efforts. Furrow won the 400 meters for the third straight year (:57.47) and finished second in both the 55 meters (:07.54) and 200 meters (:26.40). She also ran on both of the Scots' relay teams, each of which shattered conference and school indoor records. Furrow joined with senior Stacy Brown (Barrington,IL/Lake Zurich) and freshmen Constance Jackson (Peoria,IL/ Woodruff) and Elise Estes (Colorado Springs,CO/Sierra) to win the 4x200 in 1:44.96 and teamed with Brown, Jackson and junior Gretchen Vandergriff (Wolcott,IN/Greenwood) to slice over a full second off the 4x400 standard with a time of 4:06.02.

In addition to relay gold, Brown, Jackson and Vandergriff each won individual races on the track as the Scots swept the top three spots in both the 55- and 200-meter dashes. Brown led Furrow and Jackson across the line in the 55m with a conference-record :07.41 time and Jackson sped to victory in the 200 (:26.10) with Furrow and Brown close behind. Vandergriff smashed the MWC record in the 600 meters by over a second with an impressive time of 1:39.08. Tennille McClure (Taylor Ridge,IL/Rockridge) was a winner in the field as the senior claimed her third straight indoor shot put title with a throw of 39'3".

Sophomore Brian Houzenga (Fulton,IL/HS) earned co-MVP honors in the men's division following an impressive showing in the sprint and relay events. Houzenga lowered the conference record in the 400 meters with a winning time of :49.36 and just missed his own MWC record in capturing the 200 meters (:22.42). He also placed fifth in the 55 dash and anchored both of Monmouth's first-place relays. Houzenga and senior Toby Vallas (Knoxville,IL/Knoxville) teamed up with seniors Joel Hagaman (Galva,IL/HS) and Dennis Staggs (Farmington,IL/HS) to break another MWC record in the 4x200 (1:30.25) and then joined with senior David Kimber (Dolton,IL/St. Rita) and freshman Justin Bryant (Knoxville,IL/HS) to claim the 4x400 title in a final time of 3:27.26. Staggs swept both hurdle races, capturing the 55-meter highs in 7.71 seconds and the 200-meter intermediates in 24.96 seconds, for the Scots' other two track firsts. Monmouth's only field event champion was senior Jeromy Hogan (Virden,IL/HS), who cleared an NCAA-provisional height of 6'9 3/4" to win the men's high jump.

Monmouth claimed several other top-three medalists over the championship weekend. Julie Larson (Oneida,IL/ROWVA) leaped a career-best 17'2 1/4" to take second in the long jump and junior Stefan Clouse (Westmont,IL/HS) added over three feet to his career PR in the men's triple jump to capture second place at 43'2 1/2". In the throwing events McClure (39'5") added a third-place medal in the inaugural women's 20-pound weight throw and shot putters Bob Lindstrom (Ridott,IL/Freeport) and Eric Holmes (Victoria,IL/ ROWVA) finished 2-3 for the Scots, with Lindstrom bettering the NCAA provisional mark with his toss of 51'1 1/2". Freshman Stephenie Schuler (El Paso,IL/HS) was one of two women to clear 5'4" in the high jump but had to settle for second place on misses while classmate Cort Mills (Little York,IL/Yorkwood) leaped a season-best 6'6" for second place behind Hogan. Sophomore Aaron Walker (Seneca,IL/HS) matched his season-best with a clearance of 13'0" for third in the men's pole vault.

In the distance events senior Carrie Knauer (Strawn,IL/Prairie Central) broke her own school indoor records in both the 3000 (3rd, 10:52.79) and 5000 (2nd, 19:02.21) to earn two individual medals, as did senior Frank Schweda (Rolling Meadows,IL/HS). Schweda captured 3rd in the 1500 with a lifetime-PR of 4:02.08 on Friday night and came back on Saturday to place second at 1000 meters (2:33.03) and fifth at 5000 (16:07). Kimber was edged out by .01 seconds to get second place in the men's 600 (1:23.16) while Stephanie Owen (Abingdon,IL/HS) finished second in the women's 200 hurdles by the same margin (:30.14). Bryant added individual medalist honors in both the 55 meters (2nd, 6.54) and 200 meters (3rd, 22.60).

Fourth-place points in men's events were earned by Chris Sondgeroth (Pekin,IL/Erie) [shot put], Tony Miles (Moline,IL/HS) [800m] and Hagaman [200m]. Amanda Colgan (Galva,IL/HS) [weight throw and shot put] and Rita McQuinn (Mason City,IL/Illini Central) [5,000m] posted fourth-place finishes for the women's team.

Sophomore Jamie Nelson (Monmouth,IL/HS) captured a pair of fifth-place finishes in the 1500 (4:05.77) and 800 (2:01.35) and junior Sherri Polk (St. Louis, MO/Pattonville) also scored in two events, taking fifth in the 800 with a career-PR time of 2:26.57 and sixth in the 200 hurdles. Sondgeroth and Jim Hardesty (Canton, IL/HS) placed 5-6 in the men=s 35-pound weight throw to round out the Scots' scoring efforts while Vandergriff (1000m, 3:14.39) and freshman Melissa Ford (Richmond,IL/Richmond-Burton) (800m, 2:29.69) claimed sixth-place points for the Monmouth women.