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Scots track setting
the table for next month’s nationals
Release Date: February 17, 2007
MONMOUTH, Ill. — Readers of Steve Rosenbloom’s sports blog for the
Chicago Tribune know that he has a catchphrase to honor athletes
after breakthrough performances. Had he covered Monmouth College at
the UNI-Dome Open in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Friday night, he might
have written, “Kel Bond and Alex Stuart, your table is ready.”
Both Fighting Scot competitors likely punched their ticket to the
national meet next month with outstanding efforts. While winning the
800-meter run, Bond ran a season-best 1:54.07 that came in nearly a
second under the provisional-qualifying time. It was the
second-fastest time indoors for the school record-holder.
“He was really not challenged a great deal,” said MC coach Roger
Haynes. “He made a nice mid-race move. A year ago at this meet, he
followed the pace of an All-American from Iowa State, but this time
he did it pretty much on his own. He’s shown that he can run pretty
well against himself.”
Stuart added nearly a foot to his school-record indoor triple jump
distance, soaring 47'4-1/2 to win that event. He is now ranked sixth
in the nation, while Bond moved up to 10th.
“Alex had a really solid week of preparation,” said Haynes, who
noted Stuart is just seven inches behind the national leader. “He
was mentally and emotionally ready for the meet and had a real nice
series of jumps.”
A table-setting of four will also be needed for the 4x400 group of
Dante Daniels, Tyler Rundle and brothers Josh and Luke Reschke, who
placed second to Northern Iowa with a school-record time of 3:18.66.
That performance trails only Lincoln and Nebraska Wesleyan among
Division III relay teams this year. Daniels ran a 48.9 lead leg and
Josh Reschke’s split was 49.2. Luke Reschke wasn’t challenged at the
end but still ran 50.2.
“We didn’t run until almost 11 o’clock in the evening,” said Haynes.
“They were able to maintain their concentration and focus and run
well. They can even run better, and they’ll need to.”
Despite facing Division I competition that also included Drake
University, several other Monmouth competitors also had high
finishes. Distance runners Clay Staley and Zach Barr both placed
second, with Staley clocking a time of 4:22.71 in the mile and Barr
completing the 3000-meter run in 8:46.36.
Throwers Jeff Rebholz and Zach Wilson were consistent, with Rebholz
placing second in both the weight throw (57'6-1/4) and the shot put
(52'1-1/4) and Wilson taking fourth in those events (56'2-1/2 and
49'6-1/2).
Chuck Lief was fourth in the triple jump (43'1-1/2) and Daniels
added a fourth-place 400-meter dash time of 50.39 to his strong
relay leg.
In the pole vault, Peter Sprecher took fourth (16'0-3/4) with
teammate Jonny Henkins (15'7) placing seventh. Tim Frank added a
seventh-place finish in the high jump (6'2-3/4) and Rundle took
eighth in the 200-meter dash (22.73).
Pole vaulters Jessica White and Megan McKenna were the top women’s
finishers. They both cleared 11'5-3/4, which was good for runner-up
for White and a third-place finish for McKenna. The multi-talented
McKenna had a “solid night,” according to Haynes, also placing third
in the triple jump with an indoor-best leap of 35'1-3/4.
Also finishing in the top three was Shannon Turczyn, who was third
in the 60-meter hurdles (9.14). When converted to a 55-meter time,
Turczyn ran a provisional-qualifying time of 8.56, and Haynes feels
she has a great shot at breaking the Midwest Conference record of
8.43.
Other strong efforts for the Scots came from Jenny Babos in the
weight throw (sixth, 46'6-1/2), Sara Ingersoll in the 800-meter run
(seventh, 2:23.54) and Erin Degelman in the pole vault (10'0).
Placing eighth were Megan Clennon in the high jump (5'1), Kila Cox
in the 400-meter dash (1:00.87) and Gloria Lehr in the shot put
(39'6-1/2). The women’s 4x400 relay team of Cox, Turczyn, Jacquie
Ouart and Katey Vaccarello also placed eighth in a season-best
4:11.37.
Besides Barr, who also had a solid time of 4:29.97 in the mile, and
Staley, Haynes said other men’s distance runners competed well,
including Damon Bautista, who finished the 800-meter run in 2:02.23.
He said he is looking forward to putting a strong distance medley
relay team together at this Saturday’s Anderson University
Invitational. The squad will try to qualify for nationals in a race
that features legs of 1200, 400, 800 and 1600 meters.
Haynes was also pleased to have former MWC champ Brenda Herrera back
and in good form. Herrera, who has returned to the team after
missing the 2006 season, has been sidelined by a broken wrist, but
she “moved herself back into contention” in the league with a
200-meter dash time of 27.36.
Concluded Haynes, “Overall, I was pleased with our performances. The
majority of our people were above average, and that’s a good
indicator that they were ready to compete.”
Men's Indoor Track
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