March 8, 1999

MONMOUTH TRACK TEAMS CLAIM TWELVE CONFERENCE TITLES

The Monmouth College men's and women's track and field teams did not win the team trophies but did bring home eight individual and four relay titles from last weekend's Midwest Conference Indoor Track Championships. The 1999 indoor league meet was hosted by Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois and featured entries from nine of the ten MWC schools.

Carroll College captured their first-ever men's and women's track and field conference titles by sweeping the team races. The Pioneers totaled 129 points to snap Monmouth's three-year reign as indoor track champions. The Fighting Scots scored 110 points for second place and Lawrence University finished in third with 93 points. On the men's side Carroll (139) and Grinnell (118) both finished ahead of Monmouth (95), which also saw its four-year string of men's championship titles come to an end.

Despite relinquishing their stranglehold on the championship trophies, the Scots lived up to their nickname and did not go down without a fight. Sophomore Constance Jackson (Peoria,IL/ Woodruff) was the brightest star for Monmouth as the speedy sprinter earned five first-place medals. Jackson became only the second MWC female to sweep all three indoor dash events and set two league records in the process. She captured the 55 meters in a record time of 7.38 seconds, a time which improved her NCAA provisional-qualifier status as well as broke the previous MWC mark shared by former Monmouth champions Stacy Brown and Christy Hickey. Jackson then won the 400 meters in 59.44 seconds and became the first woman to break 26 seconds at 200 meters indoors, lowering the league record to a sizzling 25.87 seconds. Her 200m time eclipsed the mark previously set by Monmouth's Heather Furrow, who was the first woman to win all three dashes in the same championship meet (1996).

Freshman Jaime Jones (LaHarpe,IL/HS) and junior Julie Larson (Altona,IL/ROWVA) were also winners for the women's team, each claiming an individual field event title. Jones won the high jump with a season-best clearance of 5'3" while Larson set a new Monmouth record in the long jump and just missed the MWC standard. Larson's winning jump of 18' 5 1/2" was three inches better than the old school record and only a quarter-inch off the league mark. It also automatically qualifies Larson for next weekend's NCAA Indoor National Championships and stands as the fourth-best jump in the country.

Sophomore Justin Bryant (Knoxville,IL/HS) and freshman Scott Stanton (Monmouth,IL/ HS) claimed individual events on the track for the Fighting Scot men's squad. After finishing third at 400 meters and second in the 55-meter dash, Bryant won the 200 meters in a time of 22.62 seconds. Stanton claimed his victory in the 55-meter hurdles, winning the final in a lifetime-best 7.86 seconds after lowering his PR to 7.94 in Friday's qualifying heats. Cort Mills (Little York,IL/Yorkwood) was the other Monmouth champion as the sophomore cleared 6'6" on his second attempt to win the high jump title.

Monmouth also claimed four relays on the track, defending titles in the men's and women's 4x200 and 4x400 events. Jackson, sophomore Maggie Semington (Galesburg,IL/HS), senior Stephanie Owen (Abingdon,IL/HS) and sophomore Elise Estes (Colorado Springs, CO/Sierra) clocked a season-best 1:48.26 in the 4x200 on Friday and then watched as junior Brian Houzenga (Fulton,IL/HS) anchored a thrilling come-from-behind victory in the men's race. Houzenga teamed with Bryant, freshman Vaughn Gray (Chicago,IL/Lane Tech) and sophomore Matt Beverly (Monmouth,IL/HS) to run 1:30.41. Jackson and Semington joined with seniors Christy Keller (Crystal Lake,IL/CL Central) and Sherri Polk (St. Louis,MO/Pattonville) to claim the 4x400 relay in 4:10.79 while Bryant anchored the men's 4x4 to victory in 3:27.40 with junior Rich Johnson (Galesburg,IL/HS), sophomore Chris Lacy (Knoxville,IL/HS) and freshman Randy Williams (Hillsdale,IL/Lane Tech).

Several other Monmouth performances were worthy of top-three medals. Senior Amanda Colgan (Galva,IL/HS) (38'8") and sophomore Vanessa Armstrong (Peoria,IL/Central) (38'5") turned in season-best performances to place 2-3 in the shot put and Owen ran third in the 55-meter hurdles (:09.48). Sophomores James Amerison (Kansas City,MO/Center) and Tony Miles (Moline,IL/HS) each claimed their first conference track medal, placing third in the 55 meters (:06.70) and the 800 meters (2:02.12), respectively.

Despite missing out on the medals, the Monmouth women posted new school-record performances in both medley relays. Polk and sophomore Krissy Hosey (Burlington,IL/ Central) ran on both teams, joining with Keller and Angie Frick (Monmouth,IL/Yorkwood) in the sprint medley and with Ann Moody (Yates City,IL/Farmington) and Gretchen Vandergriff (Wolcott,IN/Greenwood) on the Scots' distance medley team which placed fourth. The men's sprint and distance medleys each placed fourth as well, as did Colgan (20-pound weight throw), Owen (55 meters) and junior Aaron Walker (Seneca,IL/HS) in the pole vault.

The Fighting Scot athletes and coaches will now turn their attention to the outdoor season, which begins March 27. Monmouth, the defending men's and women's team champion, will host the MWC Outdoor Championships at Bobby Woll Athletic Field on May 7-8.