MONMOUTH,IL -- Four Monmouth College track and field athletes were in competition at the 1998 NCAA Indoor Track National Championships recently and two Fighting Scots came home with All-American honors. Senior Heather Furrow (Kirkwood,IL/Yorkwood) earned her second indoor award and sophomore Brian Houzenga (Fulton,IL/HS) his first by placing among the top six finishers in their respective events. The NCAA Nationals were held at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts on March 13 and 14 and served as the culmination of the Scots' indoor track racing season.

Furrow, who had placed 4th in the 400 meters indoors as a sophomore in 1996, repeated the feat this year to earn her second indoor and seventh career Division III track All-American honor. A three-time Midwest Conference indoor champion in the 400m, Furrow had qualified for the national meet with a time of 57.37 seconds. She turned in a time of 58.59 seconds in the preliminary heats and then posted a time of 57.80 seconds to claim fourth place in the six-woman final. Deshawnda Williams of Wheaton College (Mass.) was the national champion in 56.53 seconds.

Houzenga was the only Monmouth provisional qualifier to make the NCAA field and earned his first trip to the national finals in the 400 meters. He had qualified with a time of 49.36 seconds in winning the MWC title a week earlier and was ranked ninth among all entrants. Houzenga finished third in his prelim heat but his time of 49.59 seconds placed him fourth heading into the final round. Houzenga finished sixth in a very close finals race with a time of 49.90 seconds as Robert Woolbright of Lincoln Univeristy (Pa.) won the national title in 49.03.

Seniors Dennis Staggs (Farmington,IL/HS) and Chris Sondgeroth (Pekin,IL/Erie) also made the trip to the National Meet but did not advance to the finals in their events. Staggs missed the 55-meter hurdle final by the narrowest of margins, finishing his preliminary heat race in 7.72 seconds to miss the top six by .01 seconds, and placed 8th of 12 runners. Sondgeroth qualified in the shot put but his best throw in the prelims of 52'2" only placed him ninth.

Monmouth successfully defended its men's and women's Midwest Conference indoor track and field team titles in early March and now sets its sights on repeating as outdoor team champions. The 1998 MWC Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be hosted on May 8 and 9 by St. Norbert College in DePere, Wisconsin. The Fighting Scots have won the last three men's and two women's conference outdoor titles.