2008 CCIW Men’s & Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships Preview

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – North Park University will be the site of the 2008 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the first time the Vikings will host this event since 2001.

The championships begin Friday, May 2 with the women’s heptathlon at 10 a.m. Running events begin at 2:30 p.m. with the women’s 100-meter hurdles. Events conclude on Saturday, May 3 with the continuation of the heptathlon at 10 a.m. while the women’s 4x100-meter relay kicks off the running events at 1:30 p.m.

The Illinois Wesleyan women come into the weekend having won the national title during the indoor season. The Titans became the first women’s team in Illinois Wesleyan history to win a national championship. Rachel Anderson (Clinton, Ill./H.S.) played an instrumental role in winning the national championship with a victory in the 400-meter dash for the third straight season as she set a ONU field house record with a Division III national best time of 55.66. She then ran the anchor leg in a come-from-behind victory in the 4x400 relay, finishing with a time of 3:52.21. Sophomores Ali McCoy (Irving, Texas/Episcopal School of Dallas) and Mackenzie Clemens (Bloomington, Ill./H.S.) and senior BrookeHalcott (Streator, Ill./Marquette) joined Anderson on the winning relay team. Clemens also placed third in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:14.74 and sophomore Amanda LaRocca (Palatine, Ill./H.S.) finished fifth in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.34. The 4x400 relay team of McCoy, Halcott, Clemens and Anderson had an NCAA qualifying time of 3:49.86 at the Drake Relays last weekend. The Titans will be gunning for their first outdoor conference title in school history.

The Titan men’s 4x100 relay team of Mike Conti (Itasca, Ill./Driscoll Catholic), Matthew Harden (O’Fallon, Ill./H.S.), Segun Olopo (Chicago, Ill./Brooks School) and Azizuddin Rose (Chicago, Ill./De LaSalle) competed at the Drake Relays and achieved an NCAA time of 41.88. A week earlier, the Titans traveled to Wheaton’s twilight meet as Harden won the 400-meter dash (47.28) and Andrew Burton (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) won the long jump.

The North Central men have won 31 outdoor conference titles, including the last 23 dating back to 1985. The Cardinals tuned up for the championships at the Drake Relays last weekend. Mike Bina (Aurora, Ill./ Waubonsie Valley) placed second in the pole vault with a height of 16-6 ¾. The relay team of Adam Johnson (Prophetstown, Ill./Annawa), Tommy Robertson (Decatur, Ill./Maroa-Forsyth), Greg Jackson (Plainfield, Ill./Central) and Adam Pennington (Sandwich, Ill./H.S.) finished eighth in the 1,600 medley relay with a time of 3:27.36.

The Cardinal women also competed at the Drake Relays in preparation for the CCIW championships, which they won in 2007. Allison Worley (Sycamore, Ill./H.S.) set a personal best in the pole vault at Drake, jumping a height of 12-0 to take second. Michelle Criscione (Plainfield, Ill./Central) took second in the high jump with a height of 5-3 ¼. The 4x400 relay team of Lauren Brightmore (Oak Lawn, Ill./H.S.), Sheila Walsh (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton-Warrenville South), Samantha Bunsen (LaGrange, Ill./Lyons) and Shanna Obluck (Muckwonago, Wis./H.S.) finished with a time of 4:04.35 at Drake.

Augustana’s men’s and women’s team each placed second at the championships last season. The men’s 1,600 relay team of Evan Holschbach (Princeton, Ill./H.S.), Kyle Ekberg (Rockford, Ill./ Rockford Christian), Matt Somers (Naperville, Ill./Central) and Ted McMillan (Cordova, Ill./ Erie) placed second at the Drake Relays with an impressive time of 3:13.91, which is currently the fastest time in NCAA Division III. Oklahoma Baptist finished first with a time of 3:13.75. McMillan also competed in the 400-meter hurdles and tied his school record time of 51.21 to finish second. McMillan won the national title in this event last season. Brad Holehan (Shorewood, Ill./ Joliet Catholic) placed 10 th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:23.49.

The Viking women also competed at Drake over the weekend as the 4x200 relay team of Keli Coleman (Grayslake, Ill./ Carmel), Kai Frazier (Moline, Ill./ United Township), Ainsley Fedler (Burlington, Iowa/H.S.) and Krista Dayton (Grinnell, Iowa/H.S.) finished ninth with a season-best time of 1:47.15. Other members of the Vikings women’s team traveled to Dubuque, Iowa that same weekend for the Loras Invitational. Marissa Banks (Ames, Iowa/H.S.) took second in the shot put with a season-best throw of 43-8 ½ while Kelsey Duhai (Woodstock, Ill./H.S.) and Suzanne Udehn (Moline, Ill./H.S.) won the long jump and triple jump respectively.

Carthage’s men put forth a solid effort in the field events during the Wisconsin Private College Outdoor Championships last weekend. Jon Kochmit (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) won the hammer (157-6) and was third in the discus (140-4) while Shaun Jozwiak (Johnsburg, Ill./H.S.) was the champion in the shot put (48-10). At the Drake Relays, the distance medley team of Joel Brunner ( De Pere, Wis./West De Pere), Buzzy Brown (Naperville, Ill./ Nequa Valley), Tylor Lewis (Waterford, Wis./Union) and Michael White (New Lennox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central) finished sixth with a time of 10:17.47. The Carthage women also took part at the Wisconsin Private College Outdoor Championships as Heather Gilmore (Des Moines, Iowa/Southeast Polk) won both the 100-meter hurdles (16.24) and the long jump (16-1). Stephanie Moy (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) won the high jump with a height of 4-11 ½ while Shacuana Gaines (Gurnee, Ill./Warren) was champion in the triple jump (34-9 ¾).

Wheaton ’s women’s distance medley team of Lisa Baumert (Fremont, Neb./H.S.), Michelle Cameron (Scottsdale, Ariz./Scottsdale Christian), Sara Greeley (Jericho, Vermont/Mount Mansfield Union) and Marah Borgman (Winterton, South Africa/Dietermartizburg) finished ninth at the Drake Relays with a time of 12:18.91, the third-highest placing NCAA Division III team in the competition. All-American Brandi McNeil (Villa Park, Ill./Timothy Christian) finished 15 th in the javelin with a throw of 133-10. At the GINA Relays, the Wheaton men’s 4x400 relay team of Ben Berg (St. Charles, Ill./East), Jason Norem (Ottawa, Ill/Township), Cole Armerding (Albuquerque, N.M./Albuquerque Academy) and Ian Peebles (Riverside, Calif./Martin Luther King) placed fifth with a time of 3:17.78. Norem was 13 th (22.73) in the 59-man field of the 200-meter dash.

Both the Millikin men and women competed at the SIU-E Twilight on April 26 in their final preparation for the championships. On the women’s side, Bridgette Starwalt (Sherman, Ill./Williamsville) placed 10 th in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:07.78 to move to No. 5 on the school’s all-time list. Abby Parsons (Peru, Ill./LaSalle-Peru) moved into No. 2 all-time with a time of 2:23.77 in the 800-meter run. On the men’s side, Kieron Boyd (Maywood, Ill./ St. Joseph) had a season-best leap of 21-10 ¾ in the long jump to place third.

The Elmhurst men put forth a strong showing at the Wheaton Invitational two weeks ago, placing ninth and totaling 21 points in the process. Brian McConnell (Delavan, Ill./H.S.) won the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:52.28 while Mike Ptack (Oak Park, Ill./ Oak Park-River Forest) was third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:41.80. On the women’s side, Michelle Smith (Berkley, Mich./H.S.) was seventh in the steeplechase with a time of 12:00.40.

North Park welcomed in new head coach Aaron Decker this season, who will be hosting the championships in his first year at the helm. The Vikings competed at the Chicagoland Championships in early April. Lucas DeJong (West Swanzey, N.H./Monadnock Regional) finished eighth in the shot put while on the women’s side Lauren Williams was ninth in the javelin.