The swagger is back in the men’s track and field program, as the Fighting Scots captured both the indoor and outdoor Midwest Conference titles this spring and had four individuals earn All-American honors.

Eric Holmes and Cort Mills accomplished the All-American feat in both the indoor and outdoor seasons, with Holmes placing second in the indoor shot put and fourth at the national outdoor meet. Mills took fourth place indoors in the high jump and tied for the fourth at the outdoor meet. Also scoring at the outdoor meet to earn All-American honors were 110-meter hurdlers Scott Stanton and Calvin Opgenorth, who placed fifth and eighth, respectively.

Monmouth placed 10th as a team at the national indoor meet and took 16th place outdoors, clearly establishing the Scots as one of the top Division III programs in the nation.

At the MWC meets, champions included Mills and Holmes indoors and David Hodge (triple jump), Holmes, Opgenorth (110-meter hurdles), Stanton (400-meter hurdles) and the men’s 4x400 squad (Justin Bryant, Randy Williams, Ryan Moll and Chris Lacy) outdoors.

After losing by a point to Carroll in 2000, the men topped the runner-up Pios 195-148 at the outdoor meet. They also faced a challenge from Carroll at the indoor meet, winning 141-127. Roger Haynes, who’s now guided the Scots’ men to 18 indoor and outdoor conference titles, was named the league’s Coach of the Year following the outdoor meet.

Outdoor school records were set during the year by Opgenorth in the 100-meter hurdles (14.34), Aaron Walker in the pole vault (15’6-1/2) and the 4x100 team of Amon Shelby, Matt Beverly, Opgenorth and Bryant (41.49). Indoor marks that fell included Holmes in the shot put (55’1-3/4) and the 35-pound weight throw (50’8-1/2) and two relay times – Bryant, Beverly, Vaughn Gray and Williams in the 4x200 (1:30.05) and Beverly, Shelby, Lacy and Aaron Calder in the sprint medley relay (3:37.77).

Constance Jackson dominated the women’s track season, and even better news than the fact that she placed second in the nation in the 200-meter dash during one of her three All-American finishes is the fact that she’ll return for a fourth and final outdoor season in 2002.

At the national meet, Jackson played a part in all of Monmouth’s 13 points, leading the Scots to their highest total and highest finish (18th place). Her national runner-up performance is the best a Scots female athlete has ever achieved.

Jackson completed the indoor portion of her career with a memorable day at the 2001 MWC indoor meet. She won all six events she entered – three in school-record style – and qualified for nationals in four events. In the outdoor season, Jackson qualified for five national events and placed in the three, joining relay mates Philicia Moredock, Jill Hoops and Elise Estes to place sixth in the 4x400 and seventh in the 4x100.

Jackson’s big day at the indoor meet wasn’t enough to prevent the Scots from coming up short in their title defense, but Monmouth did win its second straight outdoor title, blasting Carroll 201-154 as Jackson won the long jump, 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and ran on the winning 4x100 team. The four wins gave her a school-record 30 MWC titles, breaking the mark of 29 set by former national champion Charles Burton a decade ago.

Other outdoor winners at the league meet for Monmouth were Melissa Jones in the high jump, Kara Kuhrts in the triple jump, Tracy Nelson in the javelin and the 4x400 squad of Moredock, Hoops, Estes and Kuhrts.

Coach Roger Haynes, who has guided the women to three MWC titles in just indoor and outdoor seasons, was named the MWC Coach of the Year following the outdoor meet.

Besides Jackson’s six MWC indoor wins (55-, 200-, 400-meter dashes, long jump, 4x200 and 4x400), other victors included Jones in the high jump, Moredock and Hoops on both relays, Kuhrts in the triple jump and 4x400 and Estes in the 4x200.

Outdoor school records were set by Jackson in the 200 (24.35), Cheris Beaty in the pole vault (9’6), Kuhrts in the triple jump (37’5-3/4) and Jackson, Hoops, Moredock and Estes in the 4x100 (47.76) and 4x400 (3:49.67). Both of the relay marks were broken at the national meet.

Indoor records were achieved by Jackson in the 55 (7.30), 200 (25.30) and 300 (41.72), Beaty in the pole vault (8’6), Vanessa Armstrong in the 20-pount weight throw (44’6) and Moredock, Hoops, Jackson and Kuhrts in the 4x400 (3:58.99).

Men's Outdoor Track | Women's Outdoor Track