FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302CANTON, N.Y. (May 21, 2015) - A dramatic win in the final event capped off a successful opening day for the North Central College men's track and field team Thursday, as the Cardinals collected two All-America trophies and the program's 55th individual national championship in the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships at the Merrick-Pinkard Track and Field Complex.
Pole vaulter Luke Winder added an outdoor title to the indoor crown he won in March, needing every ounce of competitive resolve to secure the win despite entering the meet as the prohibitive favorite. Entering the competition after the majority of the 20-man field had been eliminated, he notched a pair of first-attempt clearances before passing two heights to move the bar to 17 feet, 1/4 inch. Just three other entrants remained at that point, including Johns Hopkins University's Andrew Bartnett, who also had not missed an attempt.
Both vaulters cleared the bar on their third attempt, leaving them as the only remaining contenders for the national title. Winder passed on the next bar at 17'2 1/4", but Bartnett cleared it on his first attempt to give himself the upper hand. Bartnett also cleared 17'4 1/4" on the first try, and Winder missed once before electing to pass his next two attempts to the next height, 17'6 1/4". On his final attempt, needing a clearance to get the win, Winder summoned his remaining reserves and sailed over the bar to secure the 10th national pole vault championship in the Cardinals' history.
"I'm beyond blessed," he said. "I knew it was going to be a battle and I knew I would have to jump a big bar, but I knew I had it in me. I've never been in such a pressure situation, and it's fitting it was at the national meet.
"It came down to that last attempt two or three times, and I seriously can't put into words how much I really had to form myself to the process and trust in that. It takes a lot of effort to do that, to dedicate yourself to your process and not lose your mind or get nervous. I knew if I trusted my dad, and stayed in the process and trusted in God, things would be okay."
While the pole vault competition was under way, North Central sent
Travis Morrison,
Kevin McMahon and
Zach Plank to the track to compete in the 10,000-meter run. As the gun sounded to start the race, Morrison kept himself near the front of the pack through a relaxed early pace, while McMahon and Plank bided their time further back.
As the pace gradually picked up, Morrison remained in contention before losing touch with the lead pack with just under a mile to go. He headed into the final lap in fourth place before a pair of late-sprinting competitors moved past him to bump Morrison to sixth place in a time of 31 minutes, 1.03 seconds. McMahon wound up 11th in 31:34.45, while Plank placed 19th in 32:33.97.
Morrison's finish gives him an All-America award to go with the two he won at the indoor national championships and the one he secured last fall at the national cross country championships.
Qualifying for finals competition on Thursday were 3,000-meter steeplechase entrants
Ken Hoffman and
Ryan Root, who produced the fourth (9:12.99) and fifth-fastest times (9:14.24), respectively, in the preliminary heats. Also advancing out of qualifying heats was
Aron Sebhat, who posted the seventh-fastest time in the 1,500-meter run (3:54.64). The Cardinals'
Derek Nelson finished 15th in the preliminaries of the 400-meter hurdles (54.25).
North Central's lone competitor on Friday is
Zion Mason, who takes part in the qualifying heats of the 110-meter hurdles at 5:30 p.m.
More information on the meet can be found by clicking HERE. Live updates on the Cardinals' progress in the meet will be available on the North Central Athletics Twitter feed.
