MONMOUTH, IL -- The Monmouth College track and field program, the dominant power in the Midwest Conference in recent years, will face its strongest challenge in several seasons as the Fighting Scots prepare to defend their dual team titles at this weekend’s 1999 MWC Indoor Track Championships. Friday’s competition is set to begin at 3:30 PM with seven events on the schedule and the meet will resume at 11:00 AM on Saturday at the Fleming Fieldhouse at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois.

Last year marked the third consecutive season the Monmouth men and women captured both indoor track and field titles and continued the Scots’ recent winning streak. The Fighting Scot men’s team has won four straight indoor and eight straight men’s team trophies (1995-98) and the women have won three consecutive MWC indoor and six overall titles in a row (1996-98).

Monmouth won both divisions last March with identical totals of 160 points. The women outscored Lawrence (100) and Carroll (89) for team honors and the men’s standings had Grinnell (119) and Carroll (91) finishing second and third. The Fighting Scots are favored again but are expected to field serious challenges from Grinnell and Carroll in the men’s meet and from Lawrence and Carroll for the women’s championship.

Fighting Scot athletes have posted a number of outstanding performances in preparation for their title defense, including three NCAA National-qualifying marks and four school records. Several area prep athletes have turned in the best seed performances in their respective events, especially in the jumps. Sophomore Cort Mills (Little York, IL/Yorkwood) (6'6¾") and freshman Jaime Jones (LaHarpe,IL/HS) (5'2") each enter the conference meet with the league’s best performance in the high jump. Junior Julie Larson (Altona, IL/ ROWVA) has the top women’s mark in both the long jump (17'0") and the triple jump (34'5"), while freshman David Hodge (Galesburg,IL/HS) leads the field in the men’s TJ (42'7"). Seniors Stefan Clouse (Westmont, IL/HS) and Christy Keller (Crystal Lake,IL/CL Central) could also garner important points in the sand jumps. Junior Aaron Walker (Seneca,IL/HS), the defending MWC outdoor pole vault champion, is fresh off a school-record clearance of 13'8" at UW-Oshkosh last weekend and is ranked third in the league.

Sophomore Eric Holmes (Victoria,IL/ROWVA) has the #1 seed in the men’s shot put on the strength of his NCAA-provisional qualifying distance of 51'2" earlier this season. Senior Matt Russell (Dunlap,IL/HS) set a new team indoor record of 44'3" in the 35-pound weight throw two weeks ago and is seeded fifth in the event and could also contend for a scoring spot in the shot. Senior Amanda Colgan (Galva,IL/HS) and sophomore Vanessa Armstrong (Peoria,IL/HS) give the Fighting Scots a solid 1-2 punch in the women’s throwing events where the pair is ranked among the top six in both the shot put and the 20-pound weight throw.

As usual the Monmouth sprint and hurdle group will be one of the strongest in the league. Sophomore Constance Jackson (Peoria,IL/Woodruff), who won the 200-meter dash title as a freshman last year, has the top times in all three dashes (55, 200 and 400). She has already qualified for the NCAA Indoor National Championships in the 55m (:07.41) and 400 (:58.90) and will attempt a sprint triple accomplished only by Monmouth’s own Heather Furrow, who was a multi-time All-American sprinter for the Scots. Senior Stephanie Owen (Abingdon,IL/HS) has the second-fastest seed time in the 55m dash (:07.59) and will also be running for an individual title in the 55m high hurdles, an event where she is ranked third heading into the weekend. Scott Stanton (Monmouth,IL/HS) will be shooting to advance to the finals in the men’s 55m hurdles as the freshman has posted the fifth-fastest time in the league (:08.17).

Sophomore Justin Bryant (Knoxville,IL/HS), junior Brian Houzenga (Fulton,IL/HS) and freshman Vaughn Gray (Chicago,IL/Lane Tech) lead a talented group of Fighting Scots in the men’s sprint races. Bryant holds the top-seeded time in the 55 meters (:06.59) and 200 meters (:22.76) and is ranked third at 400 meters. Houzenga, the MWC conference indoor record holder at both 200m and 400m, has improved each week from an early-season injury and may be a factor in both of the long sprint races. Gray will compete in all three sprints and will run on the Scots’ 4x200 and 4x400 relays.

The indoor meet schedule includes a new wrinkle this year as the conference adds the sprint medley (200-200-400-800) and distance medley (1200-400-800-1600) relays for the first time. Junior Jamie Nelson (Monmouth,IL/HS), another Fighting Scot athlete from the local area, will run on the distance medley as well as attempting to secure points in the 800 and 1500 races. Sophomore Tony Miles (Moline,IL/HS) is also expected to run on both medley relays and is entered in the 800-1500 open double on the track. Senior Gretchen Vandergriff (Wolcott,IN/Greenwood), who has won individual indoor titles at 600 and 1000 meters, will compete in the 3000m and 5000m distance races this year. Another senior, Sherri Polk (St. Louis, MO/Pattonville), will attempt to repeat as a scorer at 800 meters (fifth in 1998) and will also compete in the high jump as well as both of Monmouth’s medley relays.

Monmouth quartets set new MWC indoor league records last year in the women’s 4x200 and 4x400 relays and are expected to challenge for titles again this weekend. The Scots have posted the fastest MWC time in the 4x200 and second-fastest in the 4x400. On the men’s side the rankings are just the opposite as Monmouth has turned in the top-seeded time in the 4x400 and is ranked #2 in the 4x200.

Following the MWC championship meet Monmouth’s national qualifiers will leave on Thursday of next week to compete in the NCAA Division III National Championships on March 12 and 13 at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio. A complete list of Monmouth places and performances will accompany a post-championship meet release scheduled for early next week.