MONMOUTH, Ill. — Throughout the first two months of training for the indoor track season, Monmouth College coach Roger Haynes has encouraged his athletes to “put money in their accounts, so they can write a check at the end.”

The Fighting Scots were awfully big spenders last weekend at the MWC Indoor Track and Field Championships in Galesburg, sweeping the men’s and women’s titles for the second straight year. The men have now won four straight conference indoor crowns and eight of the last nine, while the women have won seven of the last 10, finishing second the other three years.

How big did the men’s team spend? Their 249 points, which easily outdistanced runner-up St. Norbert’s 99.5, shattered Monmouth’s old record for points scored at an indoor meet. The Scots tallied 225 points en route to their 1996 championship. The women won with 175 points, topping second-place Carroll by 57.

“That’s pretty amazing,” said Haynes of the 249 points, specifically, and the team titles, in general. “We had season- or lifetime-bests in about 90 percent of our events, which is what we talk about doing. Another big thing, we had some people run some very tough combinations, and they were able to handle it better than some of the athletes from other teams. That’s a pretty good testament to the fact that our kids came into the meet with a very solid approach.”

As one might expect, the meet was chock full of highlights for the Fighting Scots, and the king of them all had to be two Keenan King races.

King, who wound up the meet with three individual first-place finishes and a relay win, squared off twice with Ben Dreyer, the two-time national 400-meter champion from St. Norbert. Dreyer came out ahead in both showdowns, but from a fan’s viewpoint, the races couldn’t have been more exciting.

In the 400-meter dash, King led most of the way before Dreyer caught him on the last straightaway. Despite the loss, King was swarmed by Monmouth teammates after the race. The reason? He had just broken his own school record with the third-fastest time in the nation this season (48.00). Dreyer won in 47.92.

The two met again in the last race of the meet, the final leg of the men’s 4x400. King once again had the early lead, and Dreyer once again edged him late, as both St. Norbert (3:20.83) and Monmouth (3:20.86) ran times that qualified them provisionally for next week’s NCAA meet. King was joined on the relay by Nathan Gaskill, Ortez Davis and Ryan Moll.

“Those were amazing races and certainly the highlight of my 25 years of Midwest Conference meets,” said Haynes. “Ben’s such a classy guy, which makes it very a clean rivalry. They’re going to get the chance to go at it again this weekend, and it should be another great race.”

King, who won the 55-meter dash (6.56), the 200-meter dash (a conference- and school-record 22.08) and the pole vault (15’6) and anchored the first-place men’s 4x200 (1:29.79), was named the co-outstanding men’s track performer along with Dreyer. He will also enter the national meet as the second-ranked pole vaulter in the country. The other men’s 4x200 members, by the way, were Aaron Olson, Moll and Amon Shelby.

Seniors Kara Kuhrts and Jill Hoops made their final MWC indoor meet one to remember, as each athlete won three events. They joined forces on the Scots’ first-place 4x200 team (1:47.27), which also included Melissa Pacheco and Philicia Moredock.

Kuhrts strengthened her national standing in the triple jump, winning with a school-record distance of 37’10-3/4, the 11^thbest mark in the nation. She also won the long jump (17’9-1/2) and placed second in the high jump and sixth in the 55-meter hurdles.

“Kara’s weekend was exactly what I expected from her,” said Haynes. “She was very prepared for all her events, and she parceled out her energies very well.”

Hoops posted wins in the 400-meter dash (1:00.31) and the 55-meter hurdles (8.72) and was second in the 55- and 200-meter dashes. She and Kuhrts were also third in the 4x400 along with Katie McGee and Moredock.

“Jill wasn’t perfect, for sure, but she had to run some very tough combinations,” said Haynes. “But she did what she had to do to make sure we won the meet.”

Melissa Jones added to her basketball legend at Monmouth with a memorable 37-point game against Rockford this year, and the 2003 MWC meet will go down as the track equivalent. Due to the hoops season and an injury suffered in the last game of the season, Jones was yet to perform at an indoor meet. At stake was her string of three straight conference high jump titles and a chance to earn her third All-American honor in the event.

Jones rose to the occasion, literally, clearing 5’5-1/4 to give her a clean sweep of MWC indoor high jump championships in her career and qualify for the national meet. She’ll head to nationals in Greencastle, Ind., with the ninth-best mark in the nation.

“That’s pretty remarkable, but it shows what confidence and belief in doing something can do,” said Haynes, who noted that Jones was still contributing to MC’s sweep even after her event. “She was really working our guys over in the high jump and urging them on. I decided to just leave them alone because Melissa was handling it.”

Throwers Matt Copple and Katy Healy were also outstanding, as Copple set a new conference record in the weight throw with a heave of 52’5. Healy was doubly impressive, winning the shot put (41’2-1/2) and besting the provisional mark in the weight throw with a first-place effort of 50’4-/2. She and Kuhrts were named the most outstanding women’s field participants, while Copple was one of the men’s field co-winners and Hoops earned a share of the women’s track honor.

“Katy Healy may rival Steve Hartman from a few years back in terms of making the most improvement in a college career,” said Haynes. “Her improvement is nothing short of remarkable, and she’s exceeded any expectations we’d have ever had for her. Not anymore, though.”

“Matt Copple’s high school coach was at the meet, and he was almost in disbelief,” Haynes continued. “Matt had a very mediocre high school career, at best, but he’s really stayed with our program and absolutely made the most of it.”

While Copple, a senior, is winding up his track career, Zach Barr is just getting started. The former Roseville star showed he could become the top distance runner ever to wear a Monmouth uniform, as he made up a lot of ground in a few months to defeat Grinnell’s Justin Riley in the 3000-meter run. Barr, who was beaten by Riley by about 30 seconds at the MWC cross country meet last fall, won the indoor race in 8:51.90, a full five seconds ahead of his freshman counterpart.

“Zach ran an almost perfect race, strategy-wise,” said Haynes, who added, “He has a chance at being our best ever and becoming a national-caliber runner, but it’s going to take an awful lot of work, and he’s going to need to get stronger.”

Other winners for the Scots were Bryan Bittner in the 1500-meter run (4:01.38), Davis in the 55-meter hurdles (a provisional time of 7.67), John Roberts in the high jump (6’6) and the men’s distance medley team of Anthony Welty, Matt Underwood, Aaron Calder and Matt Hargleroad (10:38.39). In all, the Scots claimed first place in 10 of the men’s events, and the women posted eight victories.

Other runner-up efforts from Monmouth came from the women’s sprint medley team of Pacheco, Skye Thornton, McGee and Elizabeth Altekruse; Cheris Beaty in the pole vault, Amy Horneck in the triple jump, Blake Boma in the 55-meter dash, Dontel Thomas in the 55-meter hurdles (a provisional time of 7.76), Moll in the 200-meter dash, Hargleroad in the 5000-meter run, Albert Greene in the triple jump, Tobias Dickerson in the weight throw and Jason Killion in the long jump.

Moll added a provisional time of 49.56 as he placed third behind Dreyer and King in the 400-meter dash.

“One guy who gets overshadowed is Ryan Moll,” said Haynes. “He had a remarkable weekend, running a personal-best of 6.58 in the 55-meter dash, qualifying provisionally for nationals in the 400 and running just off the MWC record in the 200.”

Speaking of nationals, Haynes believes that King (pole vault and 400-meter dash), Kuhrts and Jones will be Monmouth’s representatives at the meet. Other athletes, such as the men’s 4x400 team, Healy in the weight throw and Davis and Thomas in the hurdles, will likely just miss out.