Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Results
Jan. 11, 2019 - Achieving a series of the nation's top marks in several events, the North Central College men's track and field team got out of the gate quickly in the first meet of its indoor season, owning the top spot in a five-team field by a wide margin in Friday's Cardinal Opener at Al B. Carius Track.
The second-ranked Cardinals won 12 of 15 events and tallied 319 points, well ahead of runner-up Carthage College's total of 142.
Pole vaulter Luke Winder took his place at the top of the NCAA Division III performance list, clearing 17 feet, 6 1/2 inches to place first while teammate Dylan Kuipers cleared 16'5.25" to finish second at the meet and post Division III's second-best mark thus far this season. Izaiah Webb and Casey Wood tied for third place and the nation's ninth-best mark with identical clearances of 14'9.50".
The 5,000-meter run, meanwhile, saw North Central clock four of Division III's seven fastest times at the distance. Dhruvil Patel and Nolan McKenna placed first (14 minutes, 28.45 seconds) and second (14:28.51) in the race and now sit second and third in the nation, respectively, while Matt Norvell finished third (sixth in Division III) in 14:37.48) and Matt Osmulski crossed the line fourth (seventh nationally) in 14:39.72. Zach Hird won the 3,000-meter run, clocking Division III's second-fastest time (8:27.47) in the process.
Peyton Piron claimed a trio of first-place finishes by winning the 200- (22.81) and 400-meter dashes (49.54) while teaming with Brendon Sebastian, Michael Stanley and Gavin Cernek to win the 4-by-400-meter relay (3:26.91). The Cardinals also got event victories from Nate Bailey in the 60-meter dash (7.11), Kyle Hilton in the 60-meter hurdles (9.01), Michael Anderson in the 800-meter run (1:57.07), Kyle LeBlanc in the high jump (6'3.25"), Nick Stuttle in the long jump (20'3.50") and Kendall Johnson in the triple jump (44'6").
Other second-place showings came from Avante Rivers in the 60-meter dash (7.21), Stuttle in the 60-meter hurdles (9.05), Cernek in the 400 (51.04), Sebastian in the 800 (1:57.80), Alex Makrounis in the 3,000 (8:38.42), Nick Janca in the high jump (6'1.25"), Ben Andreas in the long jump (20'2.50"), Liam Sullivan in the shot put (46'0.50") and Vince Olejniczak in the 35-pound weight throw (48'4.50").
Third-place points were also recorded by Brandon Cruz in the 200 (23.44), Jonah Penningroth in the 800 (1:58.00), Brian Armstrong in the high jump (6'1.25"), Webb in the triple jump (44'2.75") and Elijah Green in the shot put (45'7.25").
The Cardinals travel to Grand Valley State University on Saturday, Jan. 19 for the Mike Lints Alumni Open.
