|
Fighting Scots to host MWC meet for
first time
Release Date: March 2, 2006
MONMOUTH, Ill. — For the first time
in the soon-to-be 30-year history of the Midwest Conference Indoor
Track and Field Championships, Monmouth College will be the host
site. Huff Athletic Center will be the setting for the nine-team
men’s and women’s competitions on Friday and Saturday.
The meet opens with field events at 3 p.m. on Friday. Championships
will be won in the shot put, long jump, 5000-meter run, mile run,
4x200 relay, men’s pole vault and women’s high jump on Friday before
the bulk of the competition resumes at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
The meet features countless sub-plots, including elite athletes
making one final bid to qualify for the national indoor meet, which
will be held March 10-11 in Northfield, Minn. Other athletes are
simply looking to break through and win their first-ever individual
MWC titles, and the team competition is also a highlight. Monmouth
enters the meet having won the last six men’s indoor titles and the
last four on the women’s side.
Currently, five Fighting Scot men have posted provisional-qualifying
times for the national meet. They include Jonny Henkins and Peter
Sprecher in the pole vault, Albert Greene in the triple jump and
long jump, Tyler Rundle in the 400-meter dash and Kel Bond in the
800-meter run.
Other provisional qualifiers in the MWC include Ripon’s Dave
Billings in the 5000-meter run and Carroll’s Erin Kelley in the
800-meter run. Kelley won the 800, the mile and the 3000-meter run a
year ago.
Monmouth coach Roger Haynes points to distance races involving
Billings and Kelley as highlights of the meet, and he said the
Fighting Scots’ Anthony Welty will attempt to beat both Billings and
Monmouth’s school record in the 3000- and 5000-meter runs. Welty,
who is No. 2 on MC’s all-time honor roll in both events, will also
be challenged by Grinnell’s Justin Riley.
While many of the distance and middle distance races will feature
star power, new men’s and women’s stars are expected to emerge in
the three sprint events and the 55-meter hurdles.
“It will be interesting to see how those races shake out,” said
Haynes.
Only Rundle, who won both the 200- and 400-meter dashes last year,
is back to defend a title in those eight events. That opens the door
for Monmouth athletes like Aaron Daverin, Dante Daniels and hurdlers
Brandon Hurckes and Nick Long on the men’s side and Kila Cox, Ashley
Widdop and Shannon Turczyn from the women’s team. Other potential
first-time champs are Carroll’s Joshua Hurlebaus and Melissa Roesch,
Ripon’s Robert Wood, St. Norbert’s Ashley Graybill and Illinois
College’s Antwan Byrd and Katherine Miller.
In terms of returning champions, the field events offer a contrast
to the sprints. Monmouth’s Jeff Rebholz (weight throw and shot put),
Tim Frank (high jump) and Alex Stuart (triple jump) are all back to
defend, but they will receive stiff challenges from teammates Zach
Wilson in the throwing events and Greene in the triple jump. In
fact, Wilson and Greene are both ranked first in two field events,
and the Henkins-Sprecher duel in the pole vault will also be
compelling. John Rohn of Illinois College, the two-time defending
pole vault champ, also returns, as does multiple long jump and
triple jump winner Kolade Agbaje-Williams of Lawrence.
On the women’s side, there are just two returning field events
champs, but one posted three victories last year. Monmouth’s
Christina Reiner won the pole vault, high jump and long jump, and
this time around she figures to be challenged by teammate Megan
McKenna, who is ranked No. 2 in the MWC in the pole vault and long
jump. McKenna is also ranked second in the triple jump behind
teammate Amy Horneck, a past indoor champion herself (2004).
Illinois College’s Ashley Meyers, won last year’s shot put
competition, enters the meet ranked No. 1 in both throwing events,
but Haynes called the throwing competitions “wide open” and is
hoping for big things from Monmouth’s Jen Babos.
Other top-ranked individuals entering the meet are St. Norbert’s
Katie Jenewein in the 5000-meter run and Melissa Fabry in the long
jump and Monmouth’s Andrea Emery in the high jump.
“The women’s relays should be wide open,” said Haynes, who feels
that Illinois College, Carroll and St. Norbert will all be strong
challengers to stop the Scots’ run of four straight titles.
On the men’s side, the Scots have been dominant at times while
winning their six consecutive championships. A year ago, they won
the indoor meet by nearly 200 points. Of the 18 events being
contested, Monmouth is ranked first in all but four.
Men's Indoor Track
| Women's Indoor
Track
|
