By: While the Lady Blues maintained their sixth-place slot from the first day of competition, the Blueboys leapt over two teams for their best MWC finish since 2009.
Men's Results
Women's Results
RIPON, Wis. – The Illinois College track & field teams had an exciting end to the indoor season on Saturday as the Blueboys leapt from fourth place to end in second place in the men's competition. The runner-up finish was the best for the IC men since the 2009 season. The Lady Blues went into Saturday in sixth place and ended the meet in sixth as well.
The Illinois College teams combined for three individual conference champions on Saturday, along with one relay conference champion. For the Lady Blues,
Andrea Hyde posted a time of 7.89 seconds in the 60 Meter Dash to post a narrow victory over Ripon College's Briana Bartz on her home track.
The Blueboys had a 1-2 finish in the 400 Meter Dash with
Brett Peifer torching the field in 50.25 seconds for the second-best time in school history. Peifer also teamed with
Chris Moore – the runner-up in the 400 –
Greg Cross and
Jaxon Rieke for a school record of 3:24.82 in the 4 x 400 Meter Relay to hold off a challenge from Cornell in the event.
Levon Hendricks had a field event victory for IC as well, strengthening his hold on the third-best triple jump in history as he leapt 45-06.50 to win by more than a foot.
Beyond the conference champions, Illinois College had seven other all-MWC performances on Saturday. Moore recorded a time of 50.86 seconds in the 400 Meter Dash and he also finished third in the 60 Meter Dash in 7.06 seconds, the fourth-best time in school history. Elsewhere on the track for the Blueboys, Cross and Peifer went 2-3 in the 200 Meter Dash with times of 22.56 and 22.59 seconds, ranking second and third in school history in the event.
Sean Kisch also had a third-place showing in the pole vault, clearing a height of 13-05.25. The Lady Blues had
Jenna Kennedy finish as the runner-up in the weight throw at 45-06.50, the fifth-best throw in program history.
Joselynn Allen ended third in the 200 Meter Dash in 26.78 seconds as well.
A couple other notable performances happened on the track for the Lady Blues. With a sixth-place finish of 2:30.23 in the 800 Meter Run,
Ali Pankey turned in the third-best time in school history. For
Ashlyn Haage, a time of 11:57.61 in the 3,000 Meter Run was the fifth-best time ever for the IC women.
At the conclusion of the meet,
Jason Haynes was named the Men's Coach of the Year and
Anthony Hand was recognized as the Men's Indoor Elite 20 Award winner.
Select members of the Blueboys and Lady Blues will compete at the Pointer Final Qualifier on March 3 at UW-Stevens Point in Stevens Point, Wis. Any national qualifiers from Illinois College will then travel to Birmingham, Ala. for the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships on March 9-10.
