MC’s Barr goes the distance in pair of races at UNI-Dome

Release Date: February 21, 2005

MONMOUTH, Ill. — Not too far from the Dyersville cornfield that told Kevin Costner to “Go the distance,” that’s exactly what Monmouth College’s Zach Barr did on Friday at the UNI-Dome Open in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Barr, Monmouth All-American cross country runner, nearly equaled his school record in the 3000-meter run, turning in the second-fastest time in MC history as he won the race in 8:40.90 for Monmouth’s lone win of the day.

Earlier in the meet, he was matched for the first time this season against the top miler in Division III, Ryan Kleimenhagen of UW-Platteville. Barr kept him in his sights long enough to set the Fighting Scots’ indoor mile record with a national provisional qualifying time of 4:16.27, which is ranked 15th in the nation this season. It was good for third at the meet behind Kleimenhagen (4:11.15) and UNI’s Dylan Davis.

“Kleimenhagen got ahead by five seconds about 400 meters into the race, and that’s the way it stayed,” said MC coach Roger Haynes, who had hoped Barr could go even faster. “Zach just didn’t challenge him much. I feel like he can run better than that.”

Haynes said Barr was more on his game in the 3000-meter run. “He ran with a lot of confidence in the first half of the race and then easily ran away from kids in the second half.”

Unfortunately, the 3000-meter run is not an event at the national meet. That distance is skipped over between the mile and the 5000-meter run.

Barr’s teammate, Anthony Welty, rode the fast pace of the two races to personal-best times. He took seventh in both the mile (4:23.07) and the 3000-meter run (9:00.10). Aaron Etienne also ran a PR in the mile (4:32.64).

Middle distance runners Kel Bond (1:57.48) and Adam Rodriguez (a personal best time of 1:58.31) also had good performances, placing third and fifth, respectively, in the 800-meter run.

Other top eight finishes for the men came from Alex Stuart, who was third in the triple jump (43’9-3/4); Jeff Rebholz, who was fifth in the shot put (48’10) and sixth in the weight throw (53’1-1/2); Tim Frank, who was fifth in the high jump (6’6); Brad Franks, who was sixth in the 200-meter dash (23.14); Evan Harrison, who was eighth in the high jump (6’2); and Brandon Hurckes, who was eighth in the 55-meter hurdles (8.63).

Also turning in solid efforts were Tyler Rundle and Blake Boma in the 400-meter dash as the duo posted personal bests of 49.90 and 50.15, respectively. Zach Wilson added a PR in the shot put (45’7).

The mile run was also one of the highlights for the women, as Tiffanie York place fifth with a school-record time of 5:20.50, trimming more than seven seconds off her previous best. Abby Horneck also had a PR with her time of 5:46.95.

Amy Horneck took third in the triple jump (33’3) and Christina Reiner, who was fifth in the pole vault (10’0), also had a fine long jump of 16’8. Three Scots placed seventh: Kila Cox in the 400-meter dash (a personal-best time of 1:00.82); Jessica White in the pole vault (9’0-1/4); and Brenda Herrera in the 60-meter dash (8.19).

Next up for the Scots is a meet at UW-Whitewater on Saturday.

Men's Indoor Track  |  Women's Indoor Track