FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Results
CHICAGO (Apr. 7, 2012) - Crowning four individual champions and placing at least three athletes in the scoring in five events, the North Central College men's track and field team encountered little resistance in securing the team title at the Chicagoland Outdoor Championships, separating itself from the rest of the 18-team field early at the University of Chicago.
The fourth-ranked Cardinals totaled 204 points, well clear of runner-up DePaul University's total of 124 and nearly triple the total of College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) rival Carthage College, which placed third with 73.
North Central's John Wood won the pole vault, with teammates Josh Winder and Frank Wleklinski placing second and third, respectively. Wood and Winder both cleared 16 feet, 4 3/4 inches, while Wleklinski cleared 15'5". The Cardinals also got first-place finishes from Zach Heerspink in the high jump (6'8 3/4"), Joseph Hletko in the decathlon (5,443 points) and Jon Howard in the 400-meter hurdles (53.82).
Joey Michals followed Howard across the line to place second in the 400 hurdles (54.39), while Heerspink also turned in a third-place effort in the long jump (22'10"). Other second-place finishes came from Robert Kapustka in the hammer throw (168'7"), Bai Kabba in the 400-meter dash (48.53), Travis Morrison in the 5,000-meter run (15:07.38) and Jordan Kremer in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:26.99). Roger Klein finished third in the 5,000 (15:07.74), as did Yonatan Mascote in the steeplechase (9:28.43).
The Cardinals came in second in a pair of relays, as Matt Souvannasing, Jon Caron, Michael Reasner and Donald Smith were clocked in 43.08 seconds in the 4x100-meter relay and the 4x400-relay quartet of Caron, Kabba, Howard and Dionte Hackler finished in 3:15.25. North Central's 4x800-meter relay team of Juliano Lodi, Zach Dougherty, Richard Ruske and Ryan Bartell finished third in 8:01.39.
North Central travels to the Wheaton College Twilight Meet on Saturday. Competition is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
