FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Feb. 3, 2015 - The North Central College men's track and field team has claimed one of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin's (CCIW) Athlete of the Week honors for the third consecutive time, as the Cardinals' 4-by-400-meter relay squad has been voted the conference's top running-event performer for Jan. 26-Feb. 1. The CCIW announced this week's selections on Tuesday.
The quartet of Daniel Spaccapaniccia, Derek Nelson, Mustapha Olaoye and Zach Kirby received the distinction after turning in a season-best time of three minutes, 20.24 seconds in the Squig Converse Invitational at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on Friday. North Central's team finished second behind Monmouth College, which is currently the only NCAA Division III team in the nation to have run faster than the Cardinals this season.
Nelson, Olaoye and Kirby earned Division III All-America honors in the 4x400 relay last spring at the Outdoor National Championships, while Nelson was also an All-America last year indoors in the distance medley relay. Olaoye was a member of the Cardinals' 4x400 relay squad which won the national title in the event at the 2012 indoor championships.
North Central swept the CCIW's Athlete of the Week awards the first two weeks of the season. Pole vaulter Luke Winder was recognized both weeks, while Richard Ruske and Travis Morrison were each selected once.
The No. 1-ranked Cardinals travel to compete in the Olivet Nazarene University Invitational on Saturday. Competition is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m.
