|
A most outstanding performance for
MC track teams
Release Date: March 7, 2007
 |
|
Monmouth
College track team members earning Most Outstanding Performer
honors at last weekend's Midwest Conference Indoor Track and
Field Championships included, in front, from left, Kila Cox,
Megan McKenna and Jessica White. In the second row are, from
left, Zach Barr, Jeff Rebholz, Peter Sprecher and Jonny
Henkins. In the back row are, from left, Kel Bond, Alex Stuart
and Zach Wilson. |
MONMOUTH, Ill. — In one
respect, it was the same old, same old for the Monmouth College
Fighting Scots at the Midwest Conference Indoor Track and Field
Championships last weekend in Galesburg. By decisive margins, both
teams took first place, with the men winning their eighth straight
MWC title and the women taking their sixth consecutive crown.
There was the usual parade of red-clad athletes stepping forward to
the award podium following the meet to claim their all-conference
medals, which were presented to the top three finishers in each
event.
But what was a little bit new and a little bit different for the
Scots came just after the medals were awarded. A staggering total of
10 team members – including five in men’s field events – earned Most
Outstanding Performer honors, and the Scots dwarfed the competition
when it came to recognizing athletes who had qualified automatically
or provisionally for this weekend’s national meet in Terre Haute,
Ind.
In all, the Scots will be sending 12 athletes to nationals, and the
men have the very real possibility of bringing home a team trophy
from the event, having qualified 10 competitors, including four who
are ranked in the top three nationally.
That quartet – pole vaulters Jonny Henkins and Peter Sprecher and
throwers Jeff Rebholz and Zach Wilson – were joined by jumper Alex
Stuart in a 5-for-5 Monmouth sweep of the field events MOPs.
After being stuck at a top height of 16'6 for a month, both Henkins
and Sprecher cleared an MWC-record 16'9-1/2 to easily win the event,
and Wilson moved up to automatic-qualifier status in the weight
throw with a conference meet-record heave of 60'8. He was also
second in the shot put (51'2-3/4).
“They were inconsistent early, but they were both very solid at the
higher heights,” said MC coach Roger Haynes of Henkins and Sprecher.
“They felt good about the 16'9-1/2. They improved their height
entering the national meet, and I think that sets them up physically
and emotionally about as well as they could have.”
Rebholz took second in the weight throw (54'3-1/4) and had the
winning shot put of 54'10-1/4, while Stuart won the triple jump
(47'0-3/4) and placed second in the long jump (21'3-1/2).
“Alex was the first jumper in the first flight of the preliminaries,
and he went 47'0-3/4 on the first jump of the competition,” said
Haynes. “For some reason, triple jumpers don’t really peak at indoor
nationals, so Alex is in good shape heading into the meet (within
seven inches of the second-best mark).”
Rebholz will head to Terre Haute ranked third in the nation in both
of the throws, while Henkins and Sprecher are tied for second
nationally in the pole vault. Wilson moved up to sixth in the weight
throw, and Stuart is the No. 8 triple jumper.
Haynes said that he was “not surprised” by Wilson’s performance, and
he feels that his elite throwers are also well-prepared as they head
to nationals.
In the meet’s last event, Dante Daniels, Tyler Rundle and brothers
Josh and Luke Reschke won the 4x400 relay in 3:21.21. Their top time
of the season, which was achieved last month, is good for ninth
nationally. Jacob Stott is the alternate for the squad.
The roster of men’s athletes who earned MOP honors was rounded out
by distance runners Kel Bond, who won the 800-meter run (1:55.36)
and the mile (4:22.59), and Zach Barr, who won the 3000-meter run
(8:42.98) and placed second in the 5000-meter run (15:15.92). Bond’s
best 800-meter time, achieved earlier this season, missed qualifying
for nationals by six hundredths of a second.
“Kel really had two solid races,” said Haynes. “He was clearly the
class of the middle distance field. Zach’s performance was a real
good story at the meet. He ran his best 5K time indoors or out, and
he was a couple seconds off his best time in the 3000. Those
performances set him up well for the outdoor season.”
The two women making the trip to nationals also had solid conference
meets. Jessica White won the pole vault, clearing a school- and
conference-record height of 11'10-1/2, and Shannon Turczyn bettered
the MWC mark in the preliminary round of the 55-meter hurdles (8.37)
before winning the event in 8.43.
“To break a conference record by more than a foot is a pretty
dominant thing,” said Haynes of White’s winning vault. As for
Turczyn, Haynes said she is simply continuing a trend of running
faster at the end of the season. Turczyn also tends to run faster as
the competition gets stronger, which bodes well for a strong
performance at nationals.
Turczyn was also a part of the victorious 4x400 squad (4:08.04),
along with Katey Vaccarello, Jacquie Ouart and Kila Cox, and she ran
on the first-place 4x200 squad (1:47.53) with Vaccarello, Cox and
Ashley Widdop.
Turczyn earned an MOP honor, and so did Cox, who won the 400-meter
dash with a personal-best time of 58.99 in addition to her two relay
wins. She added PRs of 7.56 and 26.39 in the 55- and 200-meter
dashes while placing second in both races.
“That was her best conference meet ever, and one of the best we’ve
ever had from a sprinter,” said Haynes, who was honored as the MWC
Women’s Coach of the Year. “That was better than she’s been on the
track in her entire life. She had an outstanding meet.”
Megan McKenna claimed a share of MOP honors by winning the long jump
(17'6-3/4) and triple jump (35'4) and placing second to White in the
pole vault (10'10-3/4).
“Megan is tremendously versatile,” said Haynes. “I know she’s
disappointed that she’s not advancing to nationals in any of her
three events, but that’s a very tough triple to pull off.”
Jen Babos led three Monmouth throwers to podium, winning the weight
throw (49'7-3/4). Gloria Lehr was second in the shot put (41'0-1/4)
and Tanesha Hughes was second in the weight throw (46'0).
Other winners for the Scots were Daniels in the 200-meter dash
(22.27), Luke Reschke in the 400-meter dash (50.04), Brandon Hurckes
in the 55-meter hurdles (8.09) and Tim Frank (6'4-1/4) and Megan
Clennon (5'2-1/2) in the high jump.
The men’s sprint medley team of Brad Gross, Tim Meredith, Stott and
Damon Bautista took first in 3:36.00, and the men’s 4x200 team of
Rundle, Gross, Luke Reschke and Daniels won in 1:29.24.
Reaching the podium on the women’s side were Sara Ingersoll in the
800-meter run (2:23.73) and the mile (5:20.95), Erin Degelman in the
pole vault (10'10-3/4) and Widdop in the 55-meter hurdles (8.86).
The sprint medley team of Cox, Vaccarello, Ouart and Joni Nelson
placed runner-up in 4:25.92. Degelman’s height meant that all five
MC competitors broke the previous conference pole vault record.
Placing second or third for the men were Aaron Etienne in the
800-meter run (1:57.88) and the mile (4:23.72), Nick Long in the
55-meter hurdles (8.28), Daniels in the 55-meter dash (6.50) and
Josh Reschke (50:40) and Stott (50.83) in the 400-meter dash. Scott
Heair, Meredith, Kyle Schierer and Seth Leitner were third in the
distance medley relay (10:56.32).
Haynes said he was pleased by Stott’s progression, as well as by the
1:58 split that Bautista ran on a relay.
“We saw some progress from our freshman and sophomores,” said
Haynes. “That was good to see, because we’re going to have to
replace a great senior class next year.”
For the record, Monmouth won 22 of the meet’s 36 events. The women
scored 210 points to defeat runner-up Carroll by just shy of 100
points. The men posted a whopping 264 points, nearly doubling the
133 points of second-place Illinois College.
The most important point total, though, figures to come this
weekend. On paper, the men will be seeded to score 34 points. If
they do, indeed, achieve that total, a top four national trophy
should be their reward.
“We’ll do the same thing we always do,” said Haynes. “We’ll just
worry about the events one at a time. If we get the type of
performances we’ve been getting, the points will take care of
themselves, and we should be in pretty good shape.”
Monmouth's Most Outstanding Performers
Men's Field Events:
Jonny Henkins, Jr. (Kewanee, Ill./Kewanee)
Jeff Rebholz, Sr. (Henry, Ill./Henry)
Peter Sprecher, Jr. (Canton, Ill./Canton)
Alex Stuart, Sr. (Kirkwood, Ill./Yorkwood)
Zach Wilson, Jr. (Lacon, Ill./Midland)
Men's Track Events:
Zach Barr, Sr. (Roseville, Ill./Roseville)
Kel Bond, Sr. (Dixon, Ill./Dixon)
Women's Field Events
Megan McKenna, Jr. (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection)
Women's Track Events
Kila Cox, Sr. (Granger, Ind./Hononegah)
Shannon Turczyn, So. (Peru, Ill./LaSalle-Peru)
Monmouth's National Qualifiers
(Event, best performance of season, current national rank)
Jonny Henkins, pole vault, 16'9-1/2, 2nd
Peter Sprecher, pole vault, 16'9-1/2, 2nd
Jeff Rebholz, weight throw, 61'4-3/4, 3rd; shot put, 54'10-1/4, 3rd
Zach Wilson, weight throw, 60'8, 6th
Alex Stuart, triple jump, 47'4-1/2, 8th
Men's 4x400 Relay (Dante Daniels, Tyler Rundle, Josh Reschke, Luke
Reschke -- alternate: Jacob Stott), 3:18.66, 9th
Shannon Turczyn, 55-meter hurdles, 8.37, 11th
Jessica White, pole vault, 11'10-1/2, 12th
Men's Indoor Track
| Women's Indoor
Track
|
