By: The Blueboys lead a pack chasing Monmouth College on the men’s side. The Lady Blues sit in seventh place after the first day, but have a lot of chances to pick up points on Saturday.
MONMOUTH, Ill. – The Illinois College track & field teams opened the Midwest Conference Outdoor Championships on Friday and the Blueboys began well, ending the first day in second place with 44 points. The Lady Blues are in seventh on the women's side with 10 points, but ran extremely well in a number of preliminary races.
The IC women earned all 10 of its points on Friday in the long jump.
Olivia Molette finished as the MWC runner-up with a leap of 17-2.25 (5.24 meters). That distance ties her for fifth place all-time in program history.
Bailey Leitschuh added two points for the Lady Blues, finishing seventh.
In preliminary races for the 100 and 200 Meter Dashes, the Lady Blues had two qualify for tomorrow's finals of the 100 Meter Dash and a trio advance to the finals of the 200 Meter Dash.
Andrea Hyde crossed the finish line with the best time in both prelims, running a 12.16 in the 100 and a 25.26 in the 200. Leitschuh also qualified for both finals, ending in fifth place in the 100 with a time of 12.55 seconds and taking eighth in the prelims of the 200 in 26.00 seconds.
Joselynn Allen also made it into tomorrow's finals in the 200 Meter Dash, finishing sixth in 25.92 seconds.
Sean Kisch had the top finish in a completed event on Friday for the Blueboys, finishing second in the pole vault by clearing the bar at 14-1.75 (4.31 meters). Three other Illinois College team members earned all-conference accolades with a top-three finish.
Austin Spriggs was third in the high jump, clearing 6-2 (1.88 meters).
Chris Moore took third in the long jump with a distance of 21-9 (6.63 meters).
Anthony Flores was third in the discus with a throw of 135-7 (41.33 meters).
In other field events, Moore was fourth in the high jump behind Spriggs, also clearing 6-2 (1.88 meters). Flores was fourth in the hammer throw with an effort of 158-10 (48.42 meters).
Michael Nolte cleared a height of 12-8 (3.86 meters) in the pole vault. Behind Moore's third-place finish in the long jump,
Brett Peifer finished sixth at 21-3.25 (6.48 meters) and
Levon Hendricks placed eighth at 21-2 (6.45 meters).
In preliminary races for the 100, 200 and 400 Meter Dashes, the Blueboys had a total of eight qualifiers.
Greg Cross was the top finisher in the 100 Meter Dash with a PR of 10.75 seconds which ranks third in school history. Moore was fifth in 10.95 seconds, the fourth-best time in IC history.
Nifesimi Williams also qualified for tomorrow's finals, finishing sixth in 11.00 seconds flat. Peifer had the top time in the 200 Meter Dash in 21.64 seconds, the third-fastest time ever for the Blueboys. Cross was right behind him in 21.69 seconds, the fourth-best time in school history. Moore also reached tomorrow's finals, finishing fifth in 22.14 seconds. In the 400 Meter Dash, Peifer was third in 50.50 seconds and
Dominic Aiello was fifth in 51.01 seconds.
Also qualifying on the day for the Blueboys were
Nick Mucciante, Kisch and
Dakota Stevens in the 110 Meter Hurdles. Mucciante was fifth in 15.74 seconds, Kisch was seventh in 15.91 seconds and Stevens was eighth in 16.11 seconds.
St. Norbert College owns the lead in the women's team standings with 64 points. Monmouth College is next up with 52 points. No other team has more than 26 points after Friday's events.
On the men's side, Monmouth totaled 91 points to lead the Blueboys by 47 points. Cornell College is third with 38.5 points, with no other team having more than 26 points.
Action resumes tomorrow at Monmouth starting at 10:30 a.m.
