Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Results
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (Feb. 25, 2017) - A year after being unseated from the top spot on the awards stand for the first time in the history of the event, the North Central College men's track and field team utilized superior depth to return to the top of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) pecking order Friday and Saturday, winning a 16th CCIW Indoor Championship in the 17-year history of the meet at Illinois Wesleyan University's Shirk Center.
The No. 1-ranked Cardinals compiled 195.5 points to achieve a 53.5-point margin of victory despite winning individual championships in just three events as
Luke Winder cleared a meet-record height of 17 feet, 5 1/2 inches to win the pole vault and
Dhruvil Patel won the 5,000-meter run in a personal-best time of 14 minutes, 38.22 seconds.
Patel led a North Central sweep of the top five individual positions in the 5,000, one of four events which saw the Cardinals record at least three of the top five individual places.
Zach Plank finished second in the 5,000 (14:42.24), followed by
Dan O'Keefe (15:08.87),
Matt Norvell (15:09.53) and
Carlitos Rangel (15:11.62).
Winder, who was named the CCIW's Field Athlete of the Meet, led a similar conquest in the pole vault, as
Spencer LaHaye finished second (15'9 34"),
Dylan Kuipers placed ourth (15'1 3/4") and
Izaiah Webb and
Casey Wood tied for fifth (14'8").
The Cardinals' third event victory came in the final event of the weekend, as
Daniel Spaccapaniccia,
Zach Kirby,
Ben Nordman and
Peyton Piron prevailed in the 4-by-400-meter relay in a time of 3:20.50.
Despite not placing first in the 3,000-meter run, North Central did secure each of the next four places.
Ethan Adlfinger finsihed second in a personal-best time of 8:27.18, followed by
Zach Hird (8:34.37),
Nolan McKenna (8:38.48) and
Zach Herrera (8:43.30). The Cardinals took three of the top five spots in the 60-meter hurdles with
Zion Mason in second (8.51),
Kyle Hilton in third (8.58) and
Nick Stuttle in fifth (8.70).
Spaccapaniccia placed second in the 200-meter dash (22.51), followed by
Maceo Findlay in third (22.60), and Piron came in second in the 400-meter dash (49.61) with Spaccapaniccia in fourth (49.99).
Chris Buechner added a second-place showing in the mile run (4:19.96) with Patel in fourth (4:22.80).
The Cardinals got second- and fifth-place finishes in the high jump as well, as
Adam Poklop cleared 6'6 3/4" and
Kyle Olesen cleared 6'4 3/4". Findlay added a fourth-place finish in the 60-meter dash (7.07), and fifth-place points came from Webb in the triple jump (43'10 3/4") and
Jonah Penningroth in the 800-meter run (1:57.78).
North Central's coaching staff was voted the CCIW's Coaching Staff of the Year.
The Cardinals will compete in the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Final Qualifier on Saturday.
