Scots run away with both titles at MWC Indoor Championships

Release Date: March 7, 2005

MONMOUTH, Ill. — The real drama for Monmouth College at last weekend’s Midwest Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in Jacksonville, Ill., was not on the men’s side. The Fighting Scots’ only team concerns en route to a sixth straight MWC title were if they would break the school record for points at a conference meet (they did) and if they would score a mind-boggling 300 points (not quite).

However, the women’s competition appeared to be very much up for grabs. Coach Roger Haynes wondered if his young team, which appeared devoid of star power, could overcome their big meet inexperience and get enough balance across the board to hold off challenges from schools like 2004 outdoor champion Carroll.

The answer was an emphatic “Yes!,” as the Scots’ women not only won the meet by more than 100 points but also found some stars in the process.

The brightest one was Christina Reiner, who earned the Most Outstanding Performer for women’s field events by capturing three individual firsts and nearly adding two more victories. Reiner cleared a school- and meet-record 10’10 in the pole vault, long jumped 17’8-1/4 and cleared 5’1-3/4 in the high jump. Her runner-up triple jump of 35’4-1/2 was surpassed on the winner’s final attempt of the meet, and one of her own teammates, Brenda Herrera, edged her in the 55-meter dash by five hundredths of a second.

“Christina was amazing,” said Haynes. “The consistency of her performances across the board was outstanding. She had been around 7.7 in the 55-meter dash in her last two meets, so to run 7.5 in both the prelims and the finals shows how she rose to the occasion. She had a great weekend.”

Not surprisingly, Reiner was named the Most Outstanding Performer in women’s field events, and Herrera earned an MOP for women’s track events. She not only took first place in the 55-meter dash in 7.52 seconds, but “the fastest woman in the MWC” also claimed the 200-meter dash in a season-best time of 26.59.

When teamed together, it’s no surprise that Reiner and Herrera were able to achieve another special accomplishment, winning the 4x200 in 1:47.21. Megan McKenna and Kila Cox were also on the squad.

In the 4x400, Herrera and Cox were joined by Erica Barnett and Jacquie Ouart as the Scots won in 4:10.45.

“Jacquie Ouart was the key there,” said Haynes. “She ran third and ran an amazing leg. It wasn’t so much that it was a fast time, but she ran very aggressively. The race was pretty much over with by the time she gave up the stick.”

Monmouth’s third star of the women’s meet didn’t post an individual win, but she did the next best thing, placing second three times. Tiffanie York was runner-up in the 800-meter run (2:23.06), the mile (5:17.01) and the 3000-meter run (10:50.70). Her latter two times were both school records.

McKenna also had a strong meet, turning in a range of performances that may lead her to become the Scots’ next Reiner. She scored in the long jump, triple jump and pole vault in addition to her share of a relay title.

“We knew they had a chance to win, but we kept it quiet,” said Haynes of the women’s competition. “There were a lot of things they had to do well to make up the margin of error, and they pretty much did all of them.”

While the women proved to be unexpectedly dominant, the men were outright selfish, hoarding 276.5 points. The closest competitor was St. Norbert, which scored 88 points, and the Scots scored more points than the fourth through ninth place teams combined. In fact, after Friday night’s schedule of a handful of events, Monmouth already had enough points to win the meet, posting 88.5.

The star of the men’s meet was Tyler Rundle, who broke All-American Keenan King’s school record in the 200-meter dash, winning the event in a conference-record 21.94 seconds. He also ran a season-best 49.30 as he won the 400-meter dash.

Haynes reported that Rundle was not feeling 100 percent after a fifth-place finish in the 55-meter dash, but the former Warren standout recovered in style. Haynes said Rundle was “dominant” in winning the 400 by more than a second, and he displayed an “easy stride” and looked like he good keep running even farther in his 200-meter win, which came by a half-second.

Rundle teamed with another multiple winner, Blake Boma, on the Scots’ 4x200 team, which set a school and MWC record of 1:28.64, and on the 4x400 team, which won in 3:22.48. Brad Gross was also on both teams. Bradley Franks was the fourth 4x200 runner and Kel Bond contributed to the 4x400 victory.

Boma’s victories came in the 55-meter dash, where he tied the school record of 6.47 seconds, and the 55-meter hurdles (7.81). A third Scot who excelled on the track was Zach Barr, who won the mile (a meet-record 4:16.67) and the 3000-meter run (8:40.97). All three runners – Rundle, Boma and Barr – shared Most Outstanding Performer honors for men’s track.

Monmouth’s final MOP at the meet was another two-time champ, Jeff Rebholz, who captured the shot put (48’10-1/2) and weight throw (a conference-record 55’4-1/4).

Despite not being the No. 1 seed, Alex Stuart came away with the victory in the triple jump, soaring 45’11-1/4, and Tim Frank led a 1-2-3 finish for the Scots in the high jump, clearing 6’6-1/2. Evan Harrison (6’1-1/2) placed second and James VanDyke (5’11-1/2) was third. The Scots also went 1-2-3 in the 55-meter hurdles, with Brandon Hurckes (8.04) and Josh England (8.17) trailing Boma.

Monmouth also won the distance medley relay in 10:35.05 with a team of Aaron Etienne, Nathan Faith, Seth Leitner and Anthony Welty.

Second place finishes for Monmouth’s men came from Johnathan Henkins in the pole vault (14’6), Albert Greene in the long jump (21’4-3/4), Zach Wilson in the shot put (46’2-1/4) and Boma in the 200-meter dash (22.47). Placing third were Bond in the mile (4:24.91) and the 800-meter run (1:57.12), Welty in the 3000-meter run (8:51.78), Peter Sprecher in the pole vault (13’5-3/4), Jason Salmon in the long jump (21’4-1/4) and Boma in the 400-meter dash (50.36).

For the women, Cox was second in the 400-meter dash (1:00.33) and the 200-meter dash (26.99), Jessica White was runner-up in the pole vault (10’0) and Brandy Whitson was second in the 55-meter hurdles (9.03). Thirds came from Jen Babos in the weight throw (42’10-3/4) and Jessica Dollins in the 55-meter dash (7.59).

Despite the convincing victories, which gave the men their 10th indoor title in 11 years and the women their fourth straight and eighth in the last 10, the Scots did not fare as well as they would have liked with their elite individuals. Although many Scots have posted provisional times, Monmouth will not be represented at the NCAA Division III National Indoor Track and Field Championships in Bloomington, Ill., this weekend.

The list of near-misses includes Boma in the 55-meter dash and 55-meter hurdles by a combined seven hundredths of a second, Rundle by three-tenths of a second in the 400-meter dash and Frank by a quarter of an inch in the high jump. The Scots’ outstanding distance medley relay team of Welty, Boma, Rundle and Barr didn’t run at the MWC meet, and their top time was bettered on Saturday by six teams around the nation to lose their spot in Bloomington. Reiner (pole vault), Rebholz (weight throw) and Stuart are other provisional qualifiers whose best marks aren’t quite enough to continue their indoor seasons.

Men's Indoor Track  |  Women's Indoor Track