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Eight more Scots are All-Americans;
Monmouth men place sixth in nation
Release Date: March 10, 2007
MONMOUTH, Ill. — The Monmouth College men’s track
team came back strong on the second day of competition at the NCAA
Division III Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships
in Terre Haute, Ind.
The Fighting Scots had All-American performances in all four of
their events Saturday, giving the men a total of five individual
All-Americans and one relay team to go with Jessica White’s high
finish Friday in the pole vault for the women’s squad.
Monmouth’s total of 10 men’s and women’s All-Americans is the most
the school has ever had at an indoor or outdoor national meet, and
the men’s team total of nine All-Americans easily topped the
previous best of six set at the 1992 outdoor meet.
“It’s certainly a good weekend any time you come home from the
national meet with 10 All-Americans,” said Monmouth coach Roger
Haynes. “But I don’t think that any of our kids feel they maxed out.
We feel good about what we did overall with the All-Americans, but
the overall feeling is surprisingly average.”
That’s because Monmouth narrowly missed out on its goal of bringing
home team hardware from the meet. The men had hoped to place in the
top four, but their total of 20.5 points was good for sixth place.
Still, that’s the highest national finish ever for a Fighting Scots
track team, breaking the old record of seventh place set by MC’s
men, also in 1992.
“Bringing home 10 out of 12 All-Americans is a great success, and
No. 6 as a team is good, but I think our kids feel the difference
between No. 4 and No. 6 was pretty small and is something we were in
control of somewhat,” added Haynes.
Monmouth’s point total did receive a boost when the 4x400 relay
team, which was not seeded to finish in the top eight, broke the
school-record with a time of 3:18.53. That mark, which won their
heat, was good for a fifth place finish for the team of seniors
Dante Daniels, Tyler Rundle and Josh Reschke and sophomore Luke
Reschke.
“It was a pretty dominant performance in their heat,” said Haynes,
who noted the team was consistent throughout with relatively even
splits, led by Josh Reschke’s 49.0.
In the pole vault competition, juniors Peter Sprecher and Jonny
Henkins both cleared 16’1-3/4. Due to missed attempts, Sprecher tied
for fourth, while Henkins placed sixth. It was the second
All-American honor for Henkins, who placed fifth at last year’s
national outdoor meet.
“They were both pretty solid as far as their approach and take-off,
but they were both missing at the top,” said Haynes of the duo, who
both cleared 16’9-1/2 a week ago. “They clearly weren’t the best
they’d been all season, but I think they both have some good things
in their future.”
Another Monmouth athlete repeated as All-American, as senior Alex
Stuart placed eighth in the triple jump. The former Yorkwood
standout finished seventh a year ago at the outdoor nationals. After
recording what would prove to be his top distance of 46’3-1/2 in the
preliminaries, there was some drama involved in Stuart’s
All-American bid. He fouled on his last attempt in the finals, but
the ninth-place performer came up two centimeters short on his last
– and best – attempt.
“Alex has been struggling a little bit with a foot injury in the
last couple weeks,” said Haynes. “I think if he’d been able to
compete at his best, he could’ve been in the top four or five, but
being an All-American is still a great accomplishment.”
On Friday, senior Jeff Rebholz experienced the “just missed”
ninth-place feeling in the weight throw, but he came back strong on
the second day of competition to place fourth in the shot put at
54’0-1/2.
“Jeff feels pretty good,” said Haynes. “He rebounded from an off day
on Friday and had a real solid day.”
Lincoln University captured the team championship with 59 points,
and UW-LaCrosse (48), UW-Oshkosh (43.5) and SUNY-Brockport (30) also
took home team trophies. SUNY-Cortland placed fifth with 23 points.
Haynes, who was named the Men’s Indoor Track and Field Coach of the
Year on Friday by the USTFCCCA, said of his honor, “It’s really an
honor for our program and our kids. It’s indicative of what our kids
have done and is recognition of their accomplishments.”
As it turns out, that considerable list of accomplishments grew even
longer on Saturday.
Men's Indoor Track
| Women's Indoor
Track
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