Sprecher hits national height, Daniels leads strong sprint effort

One of the exceptions, however, came in the pole vault, as a pair of Monmouth College athletes claimed first place. Peter Sprecher soared 16'6-3/4 to automatically qualify for next month’s national meet, while Megan McKenna won the women’s competition. Although her official height was listed as 10'11-3/4, she cleared a provisional-qualifying height of 11'5-3/4 in a jump-off, and that mark is currently ranked 15th in the nation.

"Peter was really solid," said MC coach Roger Haynes. "He had a great workout on Thursday and set himself up to jump well. He’s realizing that by taking care of the little technical things he can really be at his best."

Dante Daniels didn’t post a victory, but the Fighting Scot senior was also a star of the competition, placing second in the 100-meter dash (10.81) and third in the 200-meter dash (21.66). The latter time was a provisional qualifier for the national meet.

Daniels also ran legs on two Monmouth relay teams that captured second place with provisional-qualifying times. He was joined by Aaron Daverin, Luke Reschke and Tyler Rundle in the 4x100 (41.85). Josh Reschke took Daverin’s place on the 4x400 squad, which finished in 3:16.41 and included a 47.8 leg for Luke Reschke. The Scots were edged by Illinois State in both races.

"The 4x1 was a nice surprise," said Haynes. "I thought we should be running down around that time, and it was nice to see us do it."

Monmouth also flashed some dominance in the steeplechase, as Zach Barr and Clay Staley placed third and fourth with times of 9:21.79 and 9:23.63. Barr’s time is a provisional qualifier, and Staley, competing in his first steeplechase, just missed the provisional time with a performance that broke Barr’s freshman record.

"That sets us up for planning for the rest of the season," said Haynes, who noted that Staley (4:10.99) and Barr (4:14.65) both came back to run strong 1500-meter times with only an hour’s rest. He was also pleased by steeplechasers Seth Leitner and Darin VanNattan, who also broke the 10-minute mark.

Other athletes who placed in the top eight for the Scots included Kila Cox in the 400-meter dash (1:00.40), Kel Bond in the 800-meter run (1:54.50), Megan Clennon in the high jump (5'1), Luke Reschke in the 400-meter dash (49.56) and Katey Vaccarello in the 400-meter hurdles (1:08.65).

Haynes was also impressed by several other performances, noting, "A lot of our supporting cast was pretty strong, and they turned in some marks that will set us up well for the conference meet."

Added Haynes, "Brenda Herrera was really solid in the 100 and 200 (12.84 and 26.29), and Jacquie Ouart (27.17) and Lauren Firchau (27.59) were solid in the 200."

Jake Stott turned in his first time under 50 seconds in the 400-meter dash, finishing in 49.97, and Daverin added impressive times of 11.06 in the 100-meter dash and 22.30 in the 200-meter dash to his strong relay leg.

Competing collegiately for the first time in the long jump, Brad Gross and Daverin had quality marks of 20'10 and 20'3-3/4, and Gross was also strong in the 400-meter hurdles (58.81).

Haynes praised both of his 1500-meter groups, including women’s runners Katie Staab, Joni Nelson, Amy Aghababian and Valerie Daves and the men’s quartet of Bond, Aaron Etienne, Staley and Barr. He also mentioned Ashley Widdop’s time of 16.20 in the 100-meter hurdles.

Monmouth’s throwers did not compete at Drake but did see action the next day at the Lee Calhoun Memorial, hosted by Western Illinois University.

Jen Babos starred for the Scots, placing second in the discus (a provisional mark of 139'11) and adding fifth-place finishes in the hammer (a school-record 140'6) and shot put (39'7-3/4). Gloria Lehr had an outdoor collegiate PR of 39'4-1/2 in the shot put to place sixth. She also took fifth in the javelin (104'8) and finished seventh in the discus (122'0). Tanesha Hughes placed eighth in the shot (38'2-3/4) and Clennon and Cassie Jensen placed sixth and seventh in the javelin (101'4 and 97'11).

"That should give us three of the top five javelin marks in the conference," said Haynes.

On the men’s side, Zach Wilson won the hammer with a provisional- and school-record throw of 176'10, and he was sixth in the shot put (49'1-3/4). Jeff Rebholz set a PR of 50'8-3/4 in the shot put, which was good for fifth. He was also fifth in the discus (146'7). Alex Stuart and Dan Higgins placed second and fifth in the javelin (172'2 and 165'6).

Up next for the Scots is Saturday’s Benedictine Invitational in Lisle.