Fighting Scots want to bring back more than cheese from Wisconsin

Fighting Scot athletes are ranked first in 20 individual events as well as all four relays. The men will be looking for their seventh straight outdoor title, while the women seek their third consecutive crown. Both teams won decisively at the MWC indoor meet in March.

Last Saturday, Monmouth was in Madison for the Wisconsin Twilight Meet. There were quite a few solid performances, including three that saw Monmouth entries rise in the national rankings.

The biggest mover was Jenny Babos, who broke her own school record in the discus with an automatic-qualifying throw of 152’2. She is now ranked second in the nation.

"She had four very solid throws in the discus and another one that went out of bounds that was farther than 152," said Haynes. "That consistency will help her at the national meet."

Zach Barr, the 2005 national steeplechase champion, cut a few seconds off his season-best time with a runner-up clocking of 9:19.49.

"One guy got away on him a little bit, so Zach didn’t run as fast as we had hoped," said Haynes of the race. "He was on pace to run around 9:10, but there was no one around to chase or to push him."

Both of the men’s relay teams looked good, as the 4x100 squad of Dante Daniels, Aaron Daverin, Luke Reschke and Tyler Rundle matched their season-best of 41.61. The 4x400 team of Daniels, Reschke, Rundle and Josh Reschke was the one that rose in the rankings, as their season-best time of 3:14.82 trails only six schools in the nation.

With several Monmouth athletes now in their final month of their collegiate track careers, Haynes said many are making "that senior stretch run." Included in the group are distance runners Sara Ingersoll and Joni Nelson. Ingersoll set a PR of 2:22.50 in the 800-meter run and finished the 1500-meter run in 4:58.23. Both times are among the eight fastest in school history.

"She ran the 1500 pretty much all by herself," said Haynes. "Her 800 was a very intelligent race. She was very solid in both."

Nelson’s times in those races were 2:29.28 and 5:17.80.

On the men’s side, seniors who made a move Saturday included Tim Frank, who not only reached his top mark in the high jump this year (6’4-3/4) but also found success at a new event, the triple jump. Unofficially, Frank had a jump of more than 42 feet, which will make him a contender to medal at the MWC meet. Classmate Brad Gross was also solid, completing the 400-meter hurdles in a season-best 56.09.

It was a good day for Monmouth’s throwers, too, as several athletes posted solid numbers. In the discus, Tanesha Hughes couldn’t beat Babos, but she unleashed a provisional-qualifying throw of 139’7. She also set her PR in the hammer with a throw of 139’3 and threw the shot put 39’7-1/4.

"Those are all very solid marks for her," said Haynes.

Jeff Rebholz won the shot put (53’0-1/4), while Alex Stuart took first in the javelin (179’5). Zach Wilson nearly matched his school-record hammer throw of 177’5 from a week ago, falling five inches short with his third-place throw. Wilson is just two inches shy of being ranked in the top eight nationally.

In the javelin, Haynes was impressed by the efforts of Megan Clennon (109’1), Cassie Jensen (104’3) and Gloria Lehr (100’6), who should all be in the top five in the MWC. Men’s competitor Dan Higgins (165’8) also caught Haynes’ eye.

Shannon Turczyn (26.59) and Jacquie Ouart (1:01.70) both lowered their times in the 200- and 400-meter dash, respectively, and Turczyn was third in the 100-meter hurdles (15.22). For the men, Daverin was third in the 100-meter dash (11.11) and Jonny Henkins was second in the pole vault (16’0-3/4). Damon Bautista ran a strong time of 1:58.24 in the 800-meter run, while Sean Wells high jumped 6’0-3/4.

In regard to the conference meet, Haynes said, "No. 1, we’re pretty healthy. The other factor to consider is the weather in Ripon. You can get sunburnt on the first day and have snow on the second."

For the record, the forecast shows temperatures in the 60s both days, which showers possible on Saturday.

Haynes said that improvements from Beloit and St. Norbert on the women’s side should make it a different meet than the indoor championships. On the men’s side, Illinois College is Monmouth’s main competition.