IT’S LIKE MONEY IN THE BANK
The numbers don’t lie. Monmouth College has dominated the Midwest
Conference outdoor track meet for the last two decades.
Since 1990, the Fighting Scots men have won 14 of the 18 meets. The
women have claimed more than half the meets, winning 11 of the 18. Given
the MWC rankings, both teams could pick up more team hardware at this
weekend’s meet at Knox College in Galesburg.
The Scots men have turned in the conference’s top-ranked performances
in 12 of the 20 events and average nearly two-and-a-half performances in
the top eight of each event. The women have 10 top-ranked performances
of the 20 events and appear to be especially strong in the four throwing
events where they have 17 top eight performances. Still, Roger Haynes,
now in his 25th year guiding the Monmouth track program, is cautious
when predicting the outcome of the 2008 meet.
"We still have some decisions to be made in regard to who we put in
what events and how we try to combine some of our sprint and distance
runners," reported Haynes. "We’ll work hard on that this week and set
our order and schedule of events. We obviously have to figure out what
the other teams are doing and go from there."
The Scots, who expect serious challenges from the Carroll and
Illinois College men and Carroll and St. Norbert’s women, return
defending conference champions in seven men’s and six women’s events.
Defending outdoor national pole vault champion Peter Sprecher could join
an elite group of Scots to win four conference titles in the same event,
but he will be pressed by teammate and indoor national champion Jonny
Henkins. Zach Wilson, Luke Reschke, Jessica White and Shannon Turczyn
will be going after their third outdoor titles in the men’s hammer
throw, men’s 400-meters, women’s pole vault and women’s 100-meter
hurdles, respectively. Other defending conference champions include Clay
Staley (10,000-), Brad Gross (400- hurdles), Megan Clennon (high jump),
Tanesha Hughes (discus), Katie Vaccarello (400- hurdles), the women’s
4x100 relay and the men’s 4x100 and 4x400 relays.
Sprecher has the conference’s best mark in the pole vault (17’4-1/2)
by nearly four inches over Henkins. Reschke, who holds the MWC’s top
time in both the 200- (21.91) and 400- (48.78), is expected to also see
action on the relays where Gross could become a four-time winner in the
4x100 relay. Wilson has the league’s best marks in the shot put
(49’6-1/2) and discus (162’9), but is second in the hammer throw
(177’6). Teammate Sam Cokinos is ranked second behind Wilson in the shot
put (49’1-3/4).
White has the top conference mark among the women’s pole vaulters
(12’5-1/2). Turczyn leads the league in both the 100- hurdles (14.29)
and the 100-meters (12.64).
The women could pick up major points in the throwing events where the
Scots have five of the top six performances in the discus. Hughes has
the conference’s best discus mark (152’9), followed by Jenny Babos,
Allison Renfroe and Gloria Lehr at one through four and Samantha
Bleyaert rounds out the group in sixth. Babos is ranked No. 1 in the
shot put (43’7-3/4) and hammer throw (149’8). Hughes is second in the
shot and third in the hammer, followed by Lehr, fourth in the shot and
fifth in the hammer and Renfroe, sixth in both the shot and hammer.
Clennon has the top ranking in the javelin (126’0) where Lehr is third,
Cassie Jensen, fifth and Heather Hull, seventh.
After more than 20 years coaching track, Haynes has his practice plan
in place. "We’ll have one hard workout this week and then get rested and
recovered for Friday and Saturday," he reported. "I feel better about
the conference meet now that it’s here. We’ve done all the training and
preparation we can do, so there’s really not a whole lot to do other
than run the meet. It’s time now for the kids to write some checks on
their account they’ve put into with all the training they’ve done."
If history is any indication, expect the Scots to write a big check.
ROUGH FINISH FOR LINKSTERS
The line from the Pogo comic strip, "We have met the enemy, and he is
us," could be used to describe the men’s golf team’s performance at the
Midwest Conference Golf Championships held last Thursday through
Saturday at Aldeen Golf Course in Rockford, Ill.
"We knew there was only one team that could beat us," said coach Dave
Ragone of his team’s second-place finish to Knox in the league
championship. "That team was us, and we beat us. We just made too many
mistakes and got us in a hole."
The Scots were 10 strokes back of conference champion Knox with 18
holes to play on Saturday, but the Monmouth rally fell just short.
Monmouth’s highest score of the 72-hole tournament could only shave four
strokes off their deficit and they had to settle for second place.
"I felt good after the second day, although we were 10 back," said
Ragone. "I knew if we shot 315-320, we’d win it. As it worked out, if we
shoot 328 we tie. I was very optimistic all six of our guys were going
to put together good rounds the final day since some of the guys who
started slow got going on Friday."
Nearly all nine of the schools competing saw scores balloon as the
weekend progressed. The Scots opened with a team 316 on Thursday, then
checked in with a 326 after a rain-delayed round on Friday and completed
Saturday with a season-high 334 for a 976 total.
"It was a different course than it had been in the past," said Ragone.
"On the other hand, everyone had to play the same course, so it really
wasn’t a big factor."
A pair of Scots played well enough to gain all-conference honors.
Senior Aaron Thiel (Williamsfield, Ill./Williamsfield) carded a
75-80-86-241 to place seventh. Freshman Rodney Clayton (Plano,
Ill./Plano) was eighth with a 75-82-85-242. Only the top 10 golfers are
awarded all-conference status.
Jason Pinns shaved 10 strokes off his second round score at the
championships, carding an 83-88-78-249 to place 14th. Ryan Tapscott
carded rounds of 83-84-87-254 to finish in a tie for 19th. Ryan Harvey
tied for 23rd with an 88-83-85-256. Greg Jones rounded out the Scots’
scoring in a tie for 28th with an 86-81-94-261.
"Thiel and Clayton played well on the first day," praised Ragone.
"Harvey and Jones rebounded from bad first rounds and played well on Day
2. Pinns came back with his best round of the tournament on the final
day. He was the second guy to come in on the last day and we felt really
good. His score put us up by 11 strokes at the time. We just gave up too
much ground through the first two rounds."
What all this means is that arch rival Knox gets the automatic NCAA
tournament berth. While disappointed, Ragone can still find a silver
lining.
"I was very pleased with the way Rodney played," said Ragone. "That
was pretty impressive for a freshman, especially a 75 on the first day.
We were all excited for Aaron to make all-conference for the second year
in a row. He’s such a team player, he was disappointed the team didn’t
play better and repeat as conference champs and that he didn’t play
better on the final day."
After winning the MWC title in 2007, the Scots were hoping for their
first back-to-back titles since 1980-81. Monmouth loses only one senior
– Thiel – from this year’s squad.
SORRY, YOU NEED ANOTHER TICKET FOR THIS RIDE
"What a ride."
Softball coach John Goddard’s comments to his team after they were
eliminated from the Midwest Conference Tournament were short and sweet.
The "ride" the first year coach referred to was a 9-1 regular season
finish in which the team had to win their five remaining conference
games just to get into the tournament. Anything after that was gravy.
"After a shakey start, it ended up being a great season," said
Goddard. "We met our goal of getting to the conference tournament. No
one except us expected us to get there. Next year our goal is to win the
tournament."
The Scots drew North winner St. Norbert in the first round. You may
recall the Scots handled the Green Knights 9-0 at the abbreviated MWC
Classic in mid-April. Goddard had warned his team would be facing a team
with a different mindset in the tournament. It turned out he was right.
Monmouth’s Sarah Christensen and St. Norbert’s Kayla Krueger were
locked in a pitchers’ duel until the fourth when a two-run homer put the
Knights up 2-0. St. Norbert put the game away with five runs in the
sixth for a 7-0 win.
Next up, the elimination game and Lake Forest, the only conference
team the Scots hadn’t beaten this season. A six-run first inning by the
Foresters looked bad for the Scots and three more in the third made it
9-0. That’s when the Scots got a wakeup call. Monmouth somehow needed to
score at least two runs over the next two innings, or lose the game via
the mercy rule.
Three walks and a fielder’s choice later, Monmouth has the bases
loaded and leading hitter Emily Willems at the plate….with two out…in
the fourth. Willems promptly laced a laser deep to left. The only
question was – would it be high enough to clear the four-foot fence? The
line drive that was barely eight feet off the ground at its apex cleared
the fence and gave Willems her school record second grand slam of the
season. Even home run record holders Karen Friedrich-Pyatt ’84 and Jen
Witmer ’02 never hit two slams in one season.
So it’s now 9-4, still trailing, but showing signs of life.
Unfortunately, the Scots had dug a hole a bit too deep and their season
ended with an 11-6 loss to the Foresters. The upside – the Scots
outscored the Foresters 6-2 after falling behind 9-0 and finished the
year 13-15…after an 0-7 start. That’s 13-8 outside of spring break.
So, what happened to turn the season around?
"We had some players volunteer to move in the batting order and
defensively," reported Goddard. "Emily volunteered to go from the RBI
spot, batting third, to the leadoff spot. That was a big help.
Defensively, we asked Anna Coutts to move to left and that shored up our
defense."
Willems, who hit .446 on the year, was a .591 hitter out of the
leadoff spot. She still managed to lead the team in RBIs, driving in 20
(she picked up eight quick ones with the two grand slams).
"We couldn’t have asked for anymore out of our leadoff hitter,"
praised Goddard. "She’s the most complete player I’ve ever seen."
So coach, any surprises?
"I wouldn’t say surprises, but Erin Fitzpatrick, a freshman, made a
difficult transition going from a third baseman in high school to a
second baseman in college," said Goddard. "Amanda Murdock is showing
signs of getting back to her dominating self from her high school days.
She took a few years off, but really worked hard to become our solid No.
2 pitcher."
Monmouth will lose Willems, Coutts and Kristin Bickett to graduation.
Bickett, who carried a .244 career average into the 2008 season, hit a
whopping .357 her senior year and drove in 16 runs. Both numbers are
second on the team behind Willems. Coutts, the consummate team player,
laid down a team-high 12 sacrifice bunts and hit .295.
"Kristin really came to play her senior year," said Goddard. "She
worked extremely hard to become a better hitter. Anna showed everyone
exactly what it means to be a team player. We moved her from the
outfield spot she played for three years to left, and we asked her to
sacrifice runners over to scoring position. She gladly did both and
that’s a great example of leadership."
Expectations are high for next season. Goddard will have his entire
pitching staff returning next season (Christensen, Murdock, Ashley Tocha
and Val Mitchell) and two of his top four hitters (Kembra Bell and
Maggie Dort). The first year coach expects the team to continue to
improve in the future.
"This team never gave up," said Goddard. "They left it all out there
on the field every game. Our seniors provided great leadership and laid
the foundation for a great future. I couldn’t have asked for a better
first year team than the one I had this year."
All the Scots need in ’09 is another ticket punched to the MWC
Tournament and perhaps their first conference title in 22 years.
THE WILD, WILD…SOUTH
Twelve conference games really didn’t decide anything in the Midwest
Conference South Division.
All four teams in the South were tied heading into the final
doubleheaders last Saturday and all any of them had to do was sweep and
earn the division’s baseball crown. The Scots and Illinois College were
both on the brink of elimination, losing their first games to Grinnell
and Knox, respectively. Both Monmouth and IC came back to earn splits,
meaning a single elimination tournament would be played Sunday.
Let’s recap Saturday’s Fighting Scots saga.
Game 1 – Grinnell 13, Monmouth 2. OK, so let’s not go there. We’ll
just say not much went right in that game for the Scots. Ryan Priola
gave Monmouth an early 2-0 lead with a first inning homer, but the game
went downhill after that.
Game 2 – Monmouth 16, Grinnell 4. Yeah, baby! That’s what I’m talkin’
about. The Scots turned the tables and not much went right for the
Pioneers in that game, and that’s just fine with the Scots. A four-run
fifth put the Scots up 8-4 and they added six unearned insurance runs in
the ninth and that gave Ryan Stubler a piece of history. Stubler’s ninth
inning three-run homer pushed him into a tie with Chris Wheat’s (’90)
110 career RBI record. Matt Bourne went the distance to give the Scots
the split and one more shot at making the MWC tournament.
"I told the whole team we’ve been in tournament mode for a while,"
said Roger Sander of his between-game speech. "We knew what had to
happen when we were 5-5 going in. The bats got going and Matt gave us a
great performance."
Once IC and Knox completed their split, it meant all four teams would
meet Sunday to determine the MWC tournament qualifiers.
A Thursday coin flip had pre-determined Sunday’s opponents and
locations. Monmouth would host Grinnell, Knox would host IC and the
winners would meet at Monmouth’s Glasgow Field.
The Scots broke a 6-6 tie, taking advantage of two Grinnell errors
and three hit batsmen to score four unearned runs in the bottom of the
seventh en route to an 11-7 win. Stubler took sole possession of the
career RBI lead when his based loaded hit-by-pitch drove in the 111th
RBI of his career.
Come on Stubs, you really gonna take that RBI? Yep, and the win, too.
Matt Tye worked 7-2/3 for the win, and just for good measure Stubler
came in to shut down the Pioneers over the last 1-1/3 innings. The win
assured Monmouth a tournament berth for the ninth straight year.
"Matt really settled in after the first couple of innings," praised
Sander. "They didn’t hit him hard, just some bloopers here and there. He
kept us in it and allowed time for our offense to get going. We got good
pitching, fielded the ball well and got the timely hit."
In a season where it seemed no one wanted to win the division, it was
only fitting that Monmouth and Knox would trade the lead in the
championship game. By virtue of winning their first round games, the
Scots and Prairie Fire had both punched their ticket to the MWC
Tournament. All that was left to be decided was who would be the
division champ and host the tourney.
The Prairie Fire got the timely hits this time and scored five runs
in the bottom of the fifth en route to a 9-7 Knox win, ending the Scots
seven-year reign as division champions. Priola set the school
hit-by-pitch record in the game, getting drilled for the 21st time when
he took one for the team in the second inning.
The Scots led 5-2 after two as Stubler added to his RBI total with a
two-run single in the first. Knox used three pitchers in the game as the
Scots stranded 11 baserunners, including two in the ninth with one out.
Brian Chandler relieved starter Mike Reed in the fifth and didn’t allow
a run, setting the Fire down in order in the seventh and eighth.
So, for the first time in seven years, a team other than the Scots
will wear the division crown. How does that sit with the team?
"Well, we’re happy to be in," said Sander. "It was such an emotional
couple of wins. We had to win two – the last one Saturday and the first
one Sunday – to get in. We felt good about getting in, but bad about not
being the division champion. We had the best scenario possible, our arch
rival on our diamond for the title."
While the Scots didn’t win the title this season, just getting a
tournament berth was a challenge. "That’s as good as anything right
now," said Sander. "I told the guys I see them work hard and bust their
tails every day in practice. They’re a really, really good team. They’re
confident in their ability and play hard. I just wish that team would
show up on game day. Hopefully this weekend, it will. Ripon won the
conference last year as a No. 2 seed, so No. 2 doesn’t mean you won’t
win the crown."
If Sander gets his wish, the Scots’ "practice" team will report for
the MWC Tournament this weekend and who knows, the way this season has
developed, one weekend tournament may not be enough to decide the title.
WILL ONE TOURNAMENT BE ENOUGH?
St. Norbert and Ripon colleges now have a keen sense of what John
McCain has been going through waiting for an opponent to emerge for the
November general election.
Like the Democratic presidential primaries, the Midwest Conference
South Division’s entries in the championship tournament were not decided
until the 11th hour. With all four division teams tied after the final
games Saturday, Knox, Monmouth, Illinois College and Grinnell met in
Monmouth and Galesburg to determine the division representatives through
a single elimination tournament. When the dust had settled, Knox was
crowned the division winner thanks to a 9-7 win over Monmouth in the
championship game ending Monmouth’s seven year reign as the top team in
the South. So is coach Roger Sander upset that the Scots’ arch rivals
are wearing the South crown?
"We’re in and that’s all that matters right now," said Sander. "It’s
the postseason, and we’re all starting over. Records don’t mean anything
right now. Anything can happen."
That’s a good thing for Monmouth (9-22) and Knox (11-22) as they
prepare for North winner St. Norbert (24-9) and defending MWC champion
Ripon (25-8). The Scots meet the Green Knights at Glasgow Field in
Monmouth Friday morning at 11 while the Prairie Fire host the Red Hawks
at Blodgett Field. The winners of the games will meet at Knox Friday
afternoon at 3, the losers play in Monmouth at the same time. The entire
Saturday schedule will be played at Knox.
While the South’s qualifiers were up in the air until Sunday
afternoon, Ripon and St. Norbert didn’t exactly decide their division
winner early, either. Both teams clinched a playoff berth weeks ago, but
the divisional winner wasn’t decided until last weekend when St. Norbert
swept Ripon on the Red Hawks home field 4-2, 8-2. The Green Knights own
a 3-1 season record over the Hawks.
Once considered an area of strength, the Scots experienced some
pitching pains this season. The veteran group enters the tournament with
a staff ERA over seven, but Sander’s pitchers have shown signs of
improvement down the stretch and is returning to the form the veteran
coach expected.
"The coaching staff’s main discussion the other day was what rotation
to go with," reported Sander. "Brian Chandler has looked pretty solid
all year long, starting or coming on in relief, whatever we need. With
the jobs Matt Tye and Matt Bourne gave us last weekend, we feel like the
staff has come around. Mike Reed has been roughed up a little lately,
but without him, we wouldn’t have been in position last week to get to
the tournament. He held us together for a long time."
On paper, it looks like an uphill climb for the Scots and the Prairie
Fire. The two teams sport the lowest team batting averages in the league
at .265 and .261 while St. Norbert and Ripon are ranked 1-2 in team ERA
(4.26, 4.50). The Red Hawks and Green Knights also boast the league’s
top two batting averages at .335 and .333. But as Sander always says, it
just takes timely hitting.
"I’d rather have a guy go 1-for-4 with a key hit than go 1-for-3 with
nobody on," said Sander. "Baseball comes down to getting good pitching,
good defense and timely hitting. You can have the best averages in the
world, but if you don’t get the hit at the right time, what good does it
do?"
The Scots’ Jake Bice has been getting the hit at the right time, and
a lot of hits. The senior first baseman leads the team with a .383
average and 33 RBIs. Bice hit .625 against conference opponents over the
last six games. Knox right fielder Paul Bennett leads the Fire in both
categories, boasting a .381 average and 23 RBIs.
Ripon and St. Norbert are swinging big sticks coming into the
weekend. The Red Hawks are led offensively by designated hitter Alex
Duros with his .411 average and team-high 38 RBIs. Bob Gillespie’s squad
boasts five players hitting .300 or better. Tom Winske’s Green Knights
feature six players hitting at the .300 mark or higher. They’re led by
Adam Frost, who hasn’t let any frost collect on his bat, leading the
team with a .407 average.
Sander has a simple plan to win the conference title and earn the
automatic NCAA tournament berth that goes with it – "We just have to
play well."
A simple formula for a conference crown, but the way the conference
races have shaped up this season there is one burning question. Will any
of the four teams actually win it this weekend, or will the Midwest
Conference need a tournament to determine the tournament champion?
TERRIFIC TUNEUP
The track team’s performance at Saturday’s Butler Twilight Meet in
Indianapolis, Ind., was what coach Roger Haynes had hoped for. His
women’s team won the meet and the men placed second in the field of
nearly 30 schools which included Division I teams.
"We were better in general," reported Haynes. "The team points were
simply an effect of our individual performances. We had some people come
through with improved performances. We had some top level performances
improve substantially and we had some of the second and third performers
come through. We feel better about where we are heading into the
conference meet."
One of the Scots "top level" performers, Shannon Turczyn, punched her
ticket to the NCAA outdoor nationals and set the Scots’ school record
the women’s 100-meter hurdles. The junior placed fourth in the event,
running an automatic qualifying time of 14.29 to rank her third in the
nation. She received this week’s MWC Performer of the Week honor in
women’s track.
"We had talked earlier in the year about the school record being a
possibility for Shannon," said Haynes. "She was running much better in
the sprints and that has helped her hurdles performance, so we expected
her to break the record prior to the national meet."
Turczyn also clocked a personal-best 12.64 in the 100- to finish
ninth. She teamed with Katey Vaccarello, Morgan Leffel and Jae Moore to
finish second in the 4x100 relay with a time of 51.79.
Mary Kate Beyer and Katie Staab continued to anchor the women’s
distance runners. In the steeplechase, Beyer was "solid" placing fifth
in 11:46.45 and Sara Ditzler was eighth with a time of 13:33.49. Staab’s
personal-best 2:24.97 placed her sixth in the 800-meters. Leffel placed
sixth in the 400-, running a 1:04.60. Kanisha Lampkin was eighth in
1:05.47.
Monmouth’s women made a strong showing in the discus, placing five
athletes in the top eight with three provisional-qualifying marks. A
mark of 149’2 placed Tanesha Hughes second. Jenny Babos, who earned MWC
Performer of the Week honors in women’s field events, was third with a
throw of 147’9. Allison Renfroe threw a personal-best 137’3 for fourth
place. The performances by Hughes, Babos and Renfroe were all
provisional-qualifying marks. Gloria Lehr’s personal-best 136’0 placed
her fifth in the discus and Samantha Bleyaert was eighth with a
personal-best 131’5.
"That group has done well all year," praised Haynes of his women’s
throwers. "They were throwing into a slight wind which helped a little,
but they all came through with good performances. They’re a pretty
talented group and we expect them to perform well this weekend. Allison
has made nice progress this year and we expect her to fill the void left
when Jenny graduates this spring."
The Scots placed four in the top six of the javelin. Megan Clennon
threw a personal- and conference-best 126’0 to place second. Gloria Lehr
was third with a personal-best 109’3. Cassie Jensen’s toss of 103’2 was
fourth and Heather Hull placed sixth with a mark of 98’0. Clennon’s high
jump of 5’3 tied her for first in the event.
"Our javelin group had a good weekend," said Haynes. "Megan just
missed provisional by a foot. Gloria was much improved and has moved
back into scoring range for conference."
Jessica White cleared a provisional height of 12’1-1/2 to take second
in the pole vault and Whitney Didier placed sixth at 10’2. Babos placed
fourth in the shot put with a conference-best and provisional mark of
43’7-3/4. She also took seventh in the hammer throw with a distance of
140’4. Hughes’ throw of 41’8-1/2 was good for fifth in the shot put and
Lehr was sixth at 40’11-3/4.
Dan Higgins led a strong contingent in the men’s javelin. The junior
won the event with the conference’s second-best mark of 184’8. Sean
Wells, Emmanuel Minter and Michael Blodgett finished 5-6-7. Wells
launched the javelin 151’9, Minter threw 148’11 and Blodgett’s mark was
144’11. The Scots had three top 8 finishes in the shot put. Zach Wilson
took fourth with a conference-best throw of 49’6-1/2, Sam Cokinos’
fifth-place mark of 49’1-3/4 was his career-best by nearly three feet
and Peyton Lumzy placed eighth with a distance of 46’2.
Assistant coach Brian Woodard could be considered a bit of a fortune
teller when it came to Cokinos’ shot performance. "Coach Woodard had
been telling me that was coming," reported Haynes. "He felt like Sam had
been training well and he made a big improvement just prior to the
conference meet. He’s solidly in second in the shot."
Wilson’s third place mark of 162’9 in the discus was a personal- and
conference-best mark and improved his provisional-qualifying distance.
Lumzy was eighth at 147’1 which ranks him second in the conference.
Wilson threw the hammer 162’0 to place sixth in the event.
The men’s vaulter’s finished 1-2. Jonny Henkins cleared a provisional
16’1 to win the event and Brock McAnally was second at 14’1-1/4. Wells
cleared 6’0-3/4 to take seventh in the high jump. Blodgett placed eighth
in the triple jump at 41’9-3/4.
Clay Staley shaved nearly nine seconds off his steeplechase time to
place third in 9:26.76, less than four seconds off the provisional time
and earned the conference’s Performer of the Week honor in men’s track.
Seth Leitner ran a "strong race" to clock a personal-best 9:42.37 to
place 10th, taking nearly 12 seconds off his season-best. Damon Bautista
ran a season-best 1:59.68 to finish sixth in the 800-meters and Aaron
Etienne’s 1500- time of 4:05.52 placed him eighth.
"Damon had a quality performance," praised Haynes. "He ran a really
strong race considering it was very windy on the back stretch. He made a
couple of aggressive moves and it paid off. Scott Sheller’s 15:37 in the
5K was a quality performance against a good field."
Aaron Daverin, Jacob Stott, Luke Reschke and Kyle Prout placed second
in the 4x100 relay, running a 43.66. Bautista, Alex Rodriguez, Tim Bentz
and Saidu Sesay clocked a 3:30.28 to take third in the 4x400 relay.
Reschke ran a personal- and conference-best 21.91 to take third in the
200-. Stott placed fourth in 22.18 and Daverin logged a 22.51 for
eighth. Sesay and Prout impressed their veteran coach with their
performances in the 100-. Sesay took 15th with an 11.07 and Prout was
17th at 11.15.
"Saidu and Kyle both ran well and put themselves in scoring
contention for conference," said Haynes. "I feel good about what Luke
and Jake did in the 200. It was pretty chilly and blustery when they ran
that race, so I assume better things will come for both of them with a
little better weather this weekend. For all of our athletes, it was a
pretty good weekend."
The Scots are hoping for another "good weekend" Friday and Saturday
when they travel to Galesburg’s Knox College for the Midwest Conference
outdoor track championships.
SCOTS RANKED
Just days prior to the Midwest Conference championships, Monmouth
College’s track teams continue to be ranked among the best by the U.S.
Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
In the latest power rankings released Wednesday, the Fighting Scots
men are ranked 11th and the women 14th. The rankings, which compares
teams based on performances during the current season, is released
weekly by the USTFCCA. Monmouth’s teams were highly ranked during the
indoor season and continued their high standing through the outdoor
season in April.
The Scots men are ranked 11th with a little more than 300 points this
week, just over 30 points behind the leader. Monmouth’s women pulled
into the 14th position with more than 261 ranking points, trailing the
women’s leader by less than 34 points.
We’ll see if those rankings improve after this weekend’s MWC
Championships
THE WEEK AHEAD
Fri., May 9
Baseball – MWC Championship Tournament vs. St. Norbert
