CCIW Indoor Track & Field Championships Preview

NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- The 2007 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Men’s & Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships begin Saturday at Illinois Wesleyan University as the North Central men and women both look to defend its conference titles from a year ago.

The Cardinal men have won every indoor championship since the CCIW began sponsoring the sport in 2001. North Central won the title at last season’s championship with a team score of 195, topping second place Augustana who finished with 118 points. The Cardinals won the 4x400 and 4x800 relays last season. Michael Bina will look to defend his title in the pole vault, while Israel Brown is the two-time defending champion in the triple jump. Ryan Kwiek is the defending champion in the 800-meter run.

On the women’s side, Amber Druien set conference meet records in the mile and 800 to claim the title in both events and be named Athlete of the Meet. Megan Rossi will be going for her fourth straight pole vault title as she broke her own meet record last season with a jump of 12-6 3/4. The Cardinals won with a team score of 145.50 last season, while Illinois Wesleyan was second (130.83).

Illinois Wesleyan’s Segun Olopo won the 55-meter dash last season, while Matt Harden won the 400-meter dash. Olopo recently place fourth in the 60-meter dash (6.95) at the Hoosier Hills Invitational, while Harden was third in the 400 at the same meet with a time of 49.41. On the women’s side, Rachel Anderson, a conference champion in the 200 and 400 last season, was third in the 400 (55.74) at the Hoosier Hills Invitational. Freshman Mackenzie Clemens was second in the 800 (2:15.08).

As a team, the Carthage Lady Reds recently finished fourth at the Chicagoland Indoor Track and Field Championship at Lewis University in Romeoville, Ill. Jenny Lachmann was champion in the high jump at this event (5-1), while Angela Hartman was second in the 400 (1:01.27). On the men’s side, the Red Men finished third as a team at the same event as Brandon Jones-Harris finished third in the weight throw (51-11). Jones-Harris was the conference champion in the shot put last season.

Augustana senior Meghan Voiland, a conference champion in the triple jump last season, broke a 17-year school record in the same event during the UNI-Dome open in Cedar Falls, Iowa recently. Voiland won with a jump of 38-6 3/4, breaking the old mark of 38-1 1/4. Liz Driscoll also broke a school record in Cedar Falls, placing second with a time of 3:01.27 in the 1,000-meter run, topping the old record of 3:02.69. Augustana’s Ted McMillan had a successful meet in Cedar Falls on the men’s side, placing fourth in the high jump (6-6 3/4), sixth in the 60-meter hurdles (8.48) and was on the second leg of the 1,600 relay which took third (3:20.51).

Seantae’ Holland of Millikin earned a conference title in the long jump last season. He recently took fifth in the triple jump (43-10 1/2) during a meet at Eastern Illinois University, then, less than 24 hours later, won the long (21-0.75) and triple jumps (40-11.75) at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. On the women’s side, Kapricia Poulos, last year’s champion in the high jump, recently equaled her personal best in the event with a jump of 5-7 1/4 at the Dick Pond Invitational at Lewis University. She also hit a season best in the long jump at Lewis with a mark of 16-10.
Wheaton senior Sara Ebersole won the women’s 200 with a time of 26.71 and was fourth in the 55 with a time of 7.53 at the Chicagoland Indoor Track and Field Championship. Lisa Baumert won the mile at the same meet with a time of 5:15.39, while Molly Walton was second in the 55 hurdles (9.08). On the men’s side, David Larson was second in the pole vault, while Jordan Schirman finished fourth in the 55 hurdles (8.18).

Katlyn Bednarski of Elmhurst was eighth in the mile at the Chicagoland Championship with a time of 5:40.05, while Cedric Jones won the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.68 at the University of Chicago Duals recently.

North Park freshman Hannah Landecker, a national performer in cross country in the fall, recently took fourth in the 5,000-meter run at the Chicagoland Championship with a time of 18:35.09. Her time was good enough for fifth place on the all-time North Park list. On the men’s side, Jordan Gyuricza improved his times in the 55-meter dash and the 200-meter dash with times of 7.00 and 24.51 during the Chicagoland Championship.