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

Results

KENOSHA, Wis. (May 4, 2019) - Overwhelming its opposition with superlative performances across the board, the North Central College men's track and field team found few obstacles in its path as it claimed its 39th College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Outdoor Championship at Carthage College's Art Keller Field.
 
The fifth-ranked Cardinals posted nine first-place finishes and placed third or better in 16 of the 21 contested events, piling up 250 points to easily outdistance runner-up Augustana College's total of 149.50. North Central's margin of victory is its largest since 1998 and the sixth-largest in the 72-year history of the meet.
 
The Cardinals won four of the five events that went final on Friday, each of which was achieved by a first-time outdoor conference champion. Casey Wood cleared a season-best height of 15 feet, 1.50 inches to win the pole vault, marking North Central's fifth straight outdoor title in the event and its 12^th in the past 13 years. Liam Doran surpassed his previous career best by nearly 14 feet to win the javelin throw (185'1") and Javon Kunkel secured a season-best mark of 23'0.75" to place first in the long jump.
 
Bjorn Shroda closed Friday's competition by leading a sweep of the top three spots in the 10,000-meter run, crossing the line first in 31 minutes, 17.90 seconds. Zach Chapman followed in second place (31:21.13) and Alex Makrounis finished third (31:21.66).
 
North Central also swept the top three positions in the 1,500- and 5,000-meter events on Saturday. Chris Buechner led the field to the line in the 1,500 (3:53.63), followed by Michael Anderson (3:54.16) and Dhruvil Patel (3:56.77). Matt Norvell prevailed in the 5,000 in 14:47.08, adding the championship to the indoor 5,000 crown he won in February. Al Baldonado finished second (14:51.81) and Matt Osmuslki placed third (14:57.54) in the 5,000.
 
Kyle Hilton won the 110-meter hurdles in 15.16 seconds, narrowly outleaning Millikin University's Dalton Collins and winning the event for the second straight year. Peyton Piron won the 400-meter dash in 48.49, followed by Maceo Findlay in third (50.38), and the pair teamed with Michael Stanley and Gavin Cernek to win the 4-by-400-meter relay in 3:17.16.
 
Other second-place points came from Nick Janca in the high jump (6'7"), Brendon Sebastian in the 800-meter run (1:53.38) and Erik Musgrave in the 400-meter hurdles (54.81). Additional hird-place finishes came from Zach Michael in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:33.56), Liam Sullivan in the shot put (49'2.50"), Chris Grady in the triple jump (45'9.25"), Hilton in the 400-meter hurdles (55.14) and the 4-by-100-meter relay team of Stanley, Findlay, Nate Bailey and Avante Rivers (42.60).
 
The Cardinals' coaching staff was awarded the CCIW Coaching Staff of the Year award at the conclusion of the meet.
 
North Central hosts the Dr. Keeler Invitational on Thursday and Friday at Jay and Dot Buikema Track.