THAT'S A WRAP

A repeat national champion and seven All-Americans.

That’s a pretty good way for the Fighting Scots track team to end the sports year at Monmouth.

"We were pleased with the overall performance of the kids at nationals," said Roger Haynes. "To come home with seven All-Americans and a national champion is a great year for our program. With just a little better performance, the men could have gotten a team trophy."

Indeed, the Scots’ 22 team points placed them 10th, just five points out of fourth place. Monmouth picked up more than half their points in the pole vault.

Jonny Henkins (Kewanee, Ill./Kewanee) brought home his second national pole vault title, just two months after the senior won the indoor title. Henkins cleared 16’7-1/4 to win the outdoor crown making him the first two-time national champion at Monmouth. Last year’s outdoor champion, Peter Sprecher (Canton, Ill./Canton), placed sixth giving the Scots 13 points on the first day and the early lead in the team competition.

"Jonny prepared himself very well for his final season," praised Haynes. "The indoor championship was a bit of a surprise, although I always thought he could win, I’m not sure he really believed that. Jonny put together a mature, solid approach and believed in himself. Those qualities will serve him well outside of athletics."

Women’s pole vaulter Jessica White (Galesburg, Ill./Galesburg) earned another All-American honor. White placed third and tied her own school record for the second time this season with a height of 12’6-1/4.

"Jess really gave herself a chance at a national title," said Haynes. "She was very good and needed just one more height to win. She actually beat the top seed and the indoor champion. It was a fitting way for her to end her career."

The Scots’ trio of pole vaulters each picked up their second All-American honors outdoors and fourth overall.

Luke Reschke’s (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo) 47.63 in the 400-meter dash placed him third, securing his third outdoor All-American honor and his sixth overall. He was just .03 shy of his own school record.

"Luke was outstanding in both the prelims and finals," reported Haynes. "He beat a number of runners at the national level that we have a lot of respect for. He should have a great year in 2009 and continue to be a force at the national level. It’s just a matter of how fast he will run."

Hurdle specialist Shannon Turczyn (Peru, Ill./LaSalle-Peru) laid claim to her third straight outdoor All-American award in the 100-meter hurdles. She bettered her own school record twice at the national meet, setting the new standard of 14.18 in the prelims and running a 14.24 in the finals to place fifth.

"Shannon had one of the best outdoor seasons in school history," praised Haynes. "She was very good in the sprints and relays all season. It was a real credit to her to break her own school record in the hurdles twice at the national meet."

Senior Zach Wilson (Lacon, Ill./Midland) earned his first outdoor All-American award in the hammer throw with a mark of 179’10. Classmate Megan Clennon (Aurora, Ill./West) gained outdoor All-American status for the second consecutive year, tying for eighth in the high jump at 5’4-1/2.

"Zach established himself as one of the top throwers in Fighting Scots history," said Haynes. "He has left a tremendous legacy for those who follow him."

That legacy will have a slightly different look in 2009. Only Turczyn and Reschke will return as All-Americans from 2008. Three-event qualifier Jenny Babos (Leland, Ill./Somonauk) joins Henkins, Sprecher, White, Wilson and Clennon as graduated seniors from this year’s national field.

Despite the losses of a number of quality seniors, Haynes is upbeat about the next campaign and looks to this season’s national qualifiers as the key. "I’m hopeful that Luke and Shannon, along with Clay (Staley) and Tanesha (Hughes) will be ready to lead a new group to nationals next year," he said.

The Scoop thinks Haynes can count on it.

STUDENTS FIRST, ATHLETES SECOND

Eighteen Fighting Scots student-athletes were named to the Midwest Conference All-Academic team for the spring semester. The MWC recognizes six spring sports.

In order to be named to the MWC’s All-Academic team, a student-athlete must have completed at least one year at the institution, must carry a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.2 and must earn a varsity letter in that sport.

The following student-athletes are Monmouth’s 2008 spring sports representatives:

Softball (6) – seniors Kristin Bickett (Malden, Ill./Princeton) and Anna Coutts (Ladd, Ill./Hall); juniors Sarah Christensen (Galesburg, Ill./Galesburg) and Ashley Tocha (Kewanee, Ill./Kewanee); and sophomores Kembra Bell (Beardstown, Ill./Beardstown) and Maggie Dort (Spring Grove, Ill./Richmond-Burton).

Women’s Track & Field (5) – senior Megan Clennon (Aurora, Ill./West); juniors Tanesha Hughes (Peoria, Ill./Woodruff) and Shannon Turczyn (Peru, Ill./LaSalle-Peru); and sophomores Jayme Ayers (Normal, Ill./West) and Gloria Lehr (Knoxville, Ill./Knoxville).

Men’s Track & Field (2) – junior Chris Welty (Dixon, Ill./Newman Central Catholic) and sophomore Clay Staley (Hanna City, Ill./Illini Bluffs).

Men’s Golf (2) – juniors Greg Jones (Roseville, Ill./Roseville) and Jake Kilberg (Rock Falls, Ill./Rock Falls).

Baseball (2) – sophomores Brett Peterson (Burlington, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) and Tom Shaver (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein).

Men’s Tennis (1) – junior Eric Brandhorst (Quincy, Ill./Quincy).

FOR THE RECORD

Now that the spring sports season is winding down, the sports information office has had an opportunity to begin the arduous task of updating the spring sports record books and one tennis player has risen to the top.

Kevin Kamenjarin (Alsip, Ill./Marist) completed his senior year 12-5 at No. 2 singles to eclipse Alex Carter ’07 for the career singles victory total. Kamenjarin’s record 56 singles wins could be in jeopardy next season when Kyle Korb enters his senior season just 12 singles wins back of his former doubles partner.

Speaking of doubles, Kamenjarin’s 14-7 doubles record this spring also moved him to No. 1 in the career category with 69 doubles wins, that’s 18 in front of Korb who would have to win nearly all his doubles matches next season to catch Kamenjarin. Jared Kunkle ’07 had held the previous record of 49.

Kamenjarin also served up the new record in combined singles and doubles matches won in a career and again passed Carter for the top spot. His 122 combined wins blew past Carter’s 96. In all fairness to Carter, who was discovered by coach Chad Braun in a physical education class, he played just three years at Monmouth. Again, it’s Korb chasing Kamenjarin. The senior-to-be sits 27 combined wins back of his former teammate. That mean’s he would have to average nearly 14 wins in singles and doubles.

It could be done, but the Midwest Conference limits teams to 19 play dates. That means Korb would have to win nearly three-quarters of his matches.

No pressure Kyle.

ABLE TO LEAP TALL BUILDINGS IN A SINGLE BOUND

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, it’s a Fighting Scots home run.

The April 24 edition of Scots Scoop explored the debate over which Fighting Scots softball player hit the most impressive home run. Was it Karen Friedrich, who was so prolific at blasting homers that an opposing coach successfully argued no human could possibly hit home runs with such frequency that the fence MUST be too close? Or Jen Witmer, who went on a long ball binge in 2001 and eventually tied Friedrich for the Scots’ home run crown? Or perhaps Maggie Dort from this year’s cardiac club, whose Ruthian blast against Illinois College cleared the center field scoreboard and bounced off the roof of a storage trailer, starting the debate over the most impressive moon shot?

While the article raised plenty of questions, but supplied no answers, we did hint that perhaps math and computer science professor Lyle Welch could compute Dort’s dinger. Welch didn’t "do the math" but he did hook us up with fellow professor Michael Sostarecz.

The good professor did numerous calculations and supplied the bat speed, angle of trajectory, height of the shot at its apex and distance. Sostarecz’ model looked close, but…..something just wasn’t right.

"Upon further review" Sostarecz realized he had used a baseball for his parameters. When he re-calculated the blast using the softball dimensions and weight, and factored in a head wind of approximately 15 mph – roughly the wind speed at the time of Dort’s shot – his model was nearly identical to eye witness accounts of her homer.

So, as they say on a popular baseball broadcast – How far did it fly?

Officially, at least as official as the Scoop ever gets, the ball reached a maximum height of just over 86 feet (that’s nearly the equivalent of a nine-story building) and traveled nearly 212 feet on the fly. Impressive height, but not the kind of distance you would expect in a debate over impressive home runs. Keep in mind these figures are with a head wind.

OK, so let’s suppose there was no head wind. How far would it have gone had the wind not knocked it down?

You may want to sit down for this. Remember, this bleacher-reacher was hit to dead center, not pulled, so Dort probably didn’t really get all of it. According to Sostarecz’ figures, Dort’s shot would have carried 277 feet if not for the wind AND it would have hit the windows on the ninth floor of the Sears Tower.

Don’t believe the Scoop? Sostarecz’ models are shown below.

With wind…

Without wind…

While it would be impossible at this stage of the game (Get it? "this stage of the game") to calculate the Friedrich blast that hit the side of the science building (the diamond is no longer in the same location), or Witmer’s shot at Grinnell that didn’t count as the result of a rain-out, or even her official homer submission of a four-bagger on a half swing, Dort’s shot at least has the math to back it up.

So here’s what we can confirm. Friedrich hit A LOT of home runs, eight as a freshman. Witmer hit A LOT of home runs, most were of the high, towering variety. Dort’s career total as a sophomore stands at three, but one of those was a blast of biblical proportions, well the Softball Bible proportions anyway.

The Scoop’s conclusion?

Uh, we’re still hedging on this one, but one piece of advice for Dort – just make contact. Friedrich and Witmer will confirm they didn’t hit any home runs on balls they didn’t hit.

WOULD THE LAST PERSON TO LEAVE, PLEASE TURN OUT THE LIGHTS?

This edition marks the last delivery of Scots Scoop for this academic year, and what a year it has been.

Among the major news items (in no particular order)

· Dr. Terry Glasgow announces his retirement, meaning Monmouth needed to fill the athletic director and men’s basketball coaches positions for the first time in 30 years.

· Roger Haynes was named the new AD and Mark Vershaw took the reins of the men’s basketball program.

· Ground was broken on a new football stadium.

· Women’s basketball star Ashley Yeast became the school’s rebounding champion for men and women.

· Jonny Henkins claimed both the indoor and outdoor national pole vault titles, becoming the first two-time national champion at Monmouth.

· The men’s track team placed second at the indoor national meet marking Monmouth’s highest national trophy in any sport.

Scots Scoop will be on summer vacation and will return in late August. For other updates on the Fighting Scots sports scene, check the web site at http://www.monm.edu/sportsinfo/index.htm.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Thurs., May 22

Track & Field – at NCAA Outdoor National Championships – 1:00 pm