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Fighting Scots quartet punches
ticket to nationals
Release Date: May 8, 2006
MONMOUTH, Ill. — On a night when
two athletes became the first to ever run a four-minute mile in the
state of Wisconsin, four Fighting Scots achieved their own major
accomplishment in a four-lap race, posting Monmouth College’s first
automatic qualifying time of the outdoor season.
At Saturday’s Wisconsin Twilight in Madison, Wis., Monmouth
sprinters Dante Daniels, Tyler Rundle, Josh Reschke and Luke Reschke
bested the automatic-qualifying time in the 4x400 by nearly a
half-second, winning the relay in 3:13.03. While guaranteeing an
invitation to the national meet later this month in Lisle, Ill., the
quartet moved up to third on the Monmouth honor roll and fourth in
the nation.
“They all ran together, and they all ran very well,” said MC coach
Roger Haynes. “Both Reschkes have been exceedingly good lately, and
Dante always gets himself ready for big meets. He ran a 47.19
leadoff leg, which always puts you in good shape.”
By the time Luke Reschke got the stick, Rundle and Josh Reschke had
turned in splits of 48.24 and 48.50 and put Monmouth “way too far
ahead,” according to Haynes. “Luke only ran a 49.11, so I think they
have the potential to run even faster.”
Earlier in the meet, Matt Tegenkamp, competing for Nike, and the
University of Wisconsin’s Chris Solinsky both beat the magical
four-minute time in mile, with Tegenkamp’s winning mark of 3:56.38
topping Solinsky by a second and a half.
Both Reschkes also had strong individual 400-meter times, with Luke
Reschke turning in a personal-best 48.52 in the 400-meter dash to
place fourth and move into national contention. Josh Reschke’s time
of 48.96 was also a PR and is ranked second in the Midwest
Conference.
Daniels, too, was among the leaders in two individual events, but he
was not able to improve his season-best in the 100- or 200-meter
dash, placing fifth and third, respectively, in 11.05 and 21.95.
The 800-meter run provided another track highlight, as Kel Bond
lowered his season-best in the 800-meter run to 1:53.59 en route to
a fifth-place finish. Adam Rodriguez placed in the top eight with a
PR of 1:55.93, and Aaron Etienne (1:56.99), Damon Bautista (2:01.18)
and Kyle Schierer (2:01.94) all ran improved times.
In field events, major highlights were once again provided by Alex
Stuart, who continues to show why Haynes calls his performances
“consistent.” For the third time in four meets, Stuart posted a
triple jump of either 47’3-1/2 or 47’3-3/4. He settled for the
shorter distance Saturday, but it was good enough to win by seven
inches over teammate Albert Greene, and Stuart also took first place
in the javelin with a heave of 185’7.
“It’s certainly quite an accomplishment to win twice at this meet,
and in two very different events,” said Haynes. “It’s not like he
won the shot put and the discus. One was a jump and one was a throw.
He prepares himself very well for competition, and his success can
be attributed to the amount of work he puts in.”
Peter Sprecher also has the consistency element down, and he was
again right around the 16-foot mark in the pole vault, clearing
16’0-3/4 to place third. Tim Frank added a runner-up finish in the
high jump (6’4-3/4).
Throwers Jeff Rebholz and James Blair placed in the top eight in the
shot put, discus and hammer, and other high finishers included
Anthony Welty in the 1500-meter run (4:04.14), Greene in the long
jump (21’6), Brad Gross in the 400-meter hurdles and Ken Stachorek
in the 5000-meter run.
On the women’s side, one of the highlights was Jessica White’s
career-best pole vault of 11’1-3/4, which moves her into the
national rankings along with teammate Megan McKenna.
Christina Reiner long jumped 17’0-1/2 to place fifth, while McKenna
was sixth in the triple jump (35’5-3/4). Jen Babos added a
seventh-place finish in the discus with a season-best 131’03.
After an injury-plagued college career, Sara Ingersoll looks to be
hitting her stride, and she turned in her best 800-meter run at
Monmouth, placing 12th in 2:23.97. She also had her second-best
1500-meter run, taking seventh in 4:59.60.
Noting the times of Liz Sandoval (2:30.16) and Joni Nelson
(2:31.68), Haynes said all the runners in the 800 improved enough to
get to run in the fast heat of that event at this weekend’s
conference meet. They doubled up with strong 1500-meter run
showings, and Val Daves (5:10:93) was strong in that event as well,
dropping her time by more than 15 seconds.
Shannon Turczyn had the Scots’ highest finish, placing second in the
100-meter hurdles in 14.96, which tied her season-best. Ashley
Widdop placed eighth in that event (15.85).
“Shannon was a little frustrated that she had run the exact same
time, but I think it’s indicative that she’s going to be able to go
even faster,” said Haynes.
In the 4x100 relay, Monmouth topped the five MWC schools from
Wisconsin, placing third with a time of 50.06. The team included
Jessica Dollins, Turczyn, Kila Cox and Widdop.
Monmouth’s men will be the heavy favorite to win their sixth
straight conference title this weekend at Grinnell, and the women’s
team will look to defend last year’s championship.
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