Contact: Tyler Bremner, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Results

KENOSHA, Wis. (Mar. 1, 2025) – After five consecutive College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Indoor Championship titles, the North Central College women's track and field team fell to second for the first time since the 2018 season but brought home many improvements to the program's record books.

The Cardinals finished the outing with 106.5 points, falling behind Elmhurst University in first with 160 points. Following behind was Illinois Wesleyan University in third (77), Carthage College in fourth (70), Augustana College in fifth (69), Wheaton College in sixth (62), North Park University in seventh (51.5), Carroll University in eighth (34.5), and Millikin University in ninth (32.5).

North Central earned one event victory off the efforts of Gwen Berenyi in the pole vault, where she measured in at 3.64 meters (11 feet, 11.25 inches) with Natalie Johnson marking in at third (3.54m, 11' 7.25"). Lindsey Novak flew to a 7.09 second finish in the 55-meter dash qualifiers to break Madison Renfro's 2015 record of 7.21 seconds. Also improving in the 55-meter dash preliminaries was Allie Dockins who finished in 7.27 seconds to move up to fifth in the top ten while also jumping to ninth in the top ten. Novak also marked an improvement to her 400-meter dash time with a second place finish of 56.16 seconds to enter seventh on the national TFRRS list and dethrone Sheila Walsh's 2011 record of 56.64 seconds. The 200-meter dash saw Novak continue to claim second in 24.74 seconds while the 55-meter hurdle had Denise Partee seal a fifth place finish of 8.64 seconds.

Julia Benes led the Cardinals in the 3000-meter run with a fifth place finish of 10:35.89, with Lily Anderson taking fourth in the 5000-meter run in 18:50.55. The pentathlon saw the Cardinals sweep second and third place positions on the podium between Faith Ladin (3,238) and Anna Cotter (3,077), who improved to seventh in the top ten. In a combined effort for the distance medley relay, Marissa Magana, Cali Minkie, Olivia Durbin, and Benes finished in fourth with 12:54.97, while the 4x400's group, Cali Minkie, Cire' Smith, Novak, and Kyla Miller also placed second (4:00.59).

Kim Olwoch placed seventh in the shot put but entered ninth in the program's top ten with a measure of 12.05m (39' 6.50"). In weight throws Gabrielle Harding led North with a fifth place measure of 15.06m (49' 5") while Abranet Layne took third in the triple jumps (11.20m, 36' 9").

The Cardinals were also honored with Pola Kubrak earning the Elite 26 Award and Amanda Melton earning the Respect Award.

The Cardinals will send athletes to final qualifier events at Carthage College and the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse this week ahead of the 2025 NCAA Indoor Division III Indoor Championship Mar. 14th to 15th in Rochester, New York. Access the full schedule HERE.

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