FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

Results

DES MOINES, Iowa (Apr. 27, 2013) - The North Central College men's track and field team took its largest delegation ever to the 104th annual Drake Relays over the weekend, turning in several season-best performances against some of the top competition in the nation.

The seventh-ranked Cardinals' top performance of the weekend came on Thursday evening, as John Crain made a bid to become North Central's first-ever individual Drake Relays champion in the 5,000-meter run. Crain was nipped at the finish line by Drake University's Brogan Austin, but his finishing time of 14 minutes, 12.80 seconds was a personal best and the fastest time by a Cardinal since 1996. Crain now ranks third all-time at North Central at the 5,000-meter distance and posted the best individual finish at Drake by a North Central athlete since Jake Winder's second-place showing in the pole vault in 2010.

Crain's time is the second-fastest among all NCAA Division III athletes this season, and he remains second in the nation at 10,000 meters (29:55.49).

The Cardinals also competed on Thursday in the 10,000-meter run. Daniel Kerley placed seventh in a season-best time of 30:01.00, while Roger Klein posted a personal best of 30:18.75 to place 13th and Travis Morrison finished 20th in 30:58.32.

North Central collected three top-10 finishes on Friday, headed by the 4-by-200-meter relay team of Dayton Henriksen, Abraham Oshipitan, Randal Ellison and Matt Souvannasing. The quartet placed sixth overall in 1:27.73. The team of Marlen Hamilton, Pat Foley, Ryan Bartell and Richard Ruske placed seventh in the 4-by-800-meter relay in 7:49.75, and Hamilton and Henriksen later teamed with Dionte Hackler and Derek Nelson to finish 10th in the preliminary heats of the 4-by-400-meter relay in a season-best time of 3:14.57.

North Central's 4-by-100-meter relay squad of Souvannasing, Henriksen, Oshipitan and Robert Lott finished 26th on Friday in 43.02 seconds, while Josh Winder did not clear a height in the pole vault.

The Cardinals' top finish on Saturday was posted by the distance medley relay team of Hackler, Hamilton, Matt Muth and Aron Sebhat, which finished fifth in 10:02.96. 11th-place finishes were turned in by Jordan Krermer in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:18.95) and Zach Heerspink in the high jump (6'8"). David Janet also competed in the steeplechase, placing 19th (9:54.50).

The shuttle hurdle relay team of Joey Michals, Kyle Pembrook, Nick Baumgartner and Mike Varela finished 12th on Saturday in 1:03.16, and the sprint medley relay team of Henriksen, Oshipitan, Tony Kennedy and Mustapha Olaoye placed 22nd in 3:34.68.

The Cardinals travel to Millikin University on Friday and Saturday for the CCIW Outdoor Championships, as they seek to claim their third straight CCIW outdoor title and their fourth in the past five years. Events are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. both days.