Contact: Jenna McElroy, Sports Info & Social Media Intern, mcelroy@midwestconference.org
 
Women's Preview

GRINNELL, Iowa – Monmouth College will go for its 20th consecutive Midwest Conference (MWC) Indoor Track & Field Championship at home as the Scots host the 2019 league meet Friday and Saturday.
 
Field events start at 1 p.m. on Friday with the track events begin at 2:45 p.m. Then on Saturday the weight throw kicks things off at 10:30 a.m. with the first event on the track starting at 12:00 p.m. The full event schedule and links to live video and results can be found at the championship page.
 
Read about each team’s championship outlook below.
 
Beloit Buccaneers

Coming off his highest ever finish at the MWC Cross Country Championship, Dan Arkes looks to lead the Buccaneers on the track as well. Arkes’ mile time of 4:22.67, ran just last weekend at the Titan Challenge ranks fourth in the Conference while his 3,000-meter time of 8:50.54 is sixth. Beloit also has three others ranked in the league's Top Ten entering the MWC meet starting with Ethan Harycki who is seventh in the weight throw (13.28m), Jason Dormon who is ranked tenth in the high jump (1.82m), and Charles Sandberg’s with the tenth best 800 time (2:01.39).
 
Cornell Rams

The Rams are led by the distance trio of Austin Bach, Mason Wicker, and Caleb Wilson and last year’s triple jump runner-up Julian Smith. Wicker and Bach entered the Conference meet with the top two times in the MWC at 4:16.63 and 4:16.99 respectively. They look to sweep the event after finishing second and third last year. The duo is also first and third in the 3,000 led by Bach’s 8:29.65 while Wicker has posted a time of 8:34.44. Both Wilson and Smith come in ranked second in their respective events as Wilson has run 1:57.06 in the 800 and Smith has a mark of 13.23m in the triple jump.
 
Grinnell Pioneers

Freshman Zach Willis has made some noise in his first year as he ranks in the top ten in both the 400 (51.66) and 800 (1:58.73). Also looking to grab an All-Conference finish in the 800 is sophomore Declan O’Reilly whose time of 1:58.45 is the fourth-fastest in the league. Grinnell’s top finisher at the MWC Cross Country Championship, John Lennon, enters the Track & Field Championship ranked fifth in the 5,000 with a time of 15:31.36.
 
Illinois College Blueboys
 
The Blueboys look to challenge Monmouth’s reign atop the Conference as they were picked to finish second in the annual preseason poll. Brett Piefer is the defending 400 champion and enters the 2019 meet with the third fastest time at 50.25. Chris Moore finished second to his teammate last year and once again sits just behind him with the fourth best time of 50.54. Moore, a multiple event specialist for Illinois College, also ranks in the top-six in four other events. The senior is third in the 200 (22.18), tied with teammate Nife Williams for fifth in the 60 (7.10), third in the long jump (6.55m), and finally sixth in the high jump (1.88m). The Blueboys also look to challenge Monmouth’s dominance in the throws as Anthony Flores enters the Conference meet off a school-record toss of 16.44m in the weight throw. He ranks third behind the Scots’ trio while his shot put mark of 13.61m is fifth.
 
Knox Prairie Fire
 
Two-time MWC Field Performer of the Week, Austin Rauch, headlines the Prairie Fire along with sprinter Derrick Jackson. Rauch in his first season has won every high jump event he has competed in this year and broke the school record with a conference-leading clearance of 2.08m. He is the only MWC athlete to clear 2-meters this season. Jackson, also a first-year, is tied for second in the 60 (7.03) and sixth in the 200 (22.32).
 
Lake Forest Foresters
 
The Foresters look to do some damage in the distance events after setting multiple school records this season. Christian Aldana leads the way as he broke two school records in the mile and 3,000. His mile time of 4:21.71 ranks third in the MWC while his 8:42.21 3K time is fourth just ahead of teammate Jorge Villanueva (8:47.73). Villanueva enters the Conference meet off a program-record 14:54.64 5,000 which puts him third in the league.
 
Lawrence Vikings
 
Three-time MWC XC Champion, Josh Janusiak looks to defend his 5,000 title as well as improve on his third-place finish in the 3,000 as he broke his own program record in both events this season. The senior's 5K time of 14:32.15 leads the Conference by 11 seconds while his time of 8:30.88 in the 3K is just a second behind the leader. Also looking to provide team points is Cullen Allard who has the sixth best time in the mile (4:26.26).
 
Monmouth Fighting Scots
 
Monmouth, the 19-time defending MWC Indoor Champions, have a chance to sweep both throwing events as John Hintz, Joe Krall, and Drew Thaxton are ranked 1-2-3 in the shot put and weight throw entering this weekend. The trio has been throwing new personal bests nearly every weekend with Krall breaking the school record in the weight throw (19.91m). He also has the third-best shot put mark in the MWC at 15.15m behind Hintz’s 15.55m and Thaxton’s 15.19. Hintz isn’t too far behind Krall in the weight throw at 19.05m while Thaxton is a bit of a distance third with his toss of 17.74m. The Scots should also fare well in a couple of jump events as Seth Anderson is the defending high jump champion and runner-up in the triple jump. His rankings are flipped in 2019 as he sits in second in the high jump at 1.99m and leads the triple jump with a mark of 13.82m. Monmouth holds the top spot in one other event as sprinter Stone Darrow is currently the fastest athlete in the MWC with his 60 time of 7.01 while his 200 time of 22.12 is second.
 
Ripon Red Hawks
 
Standout sprinter Andrew Fuhrman leads the Red Hawks into the 2019 MWC Indoor Championship. The sophomore ranks fourth in the 200 with a time of 22.20 and second in the 400 at 50.01. Ripon will also look to score points in the pole vault as Sam Utesch has cleared 3.80m for third in the Conference.
 
St. Norbert Green Knights
 
The Green Knights hope they will be the ones at the top of the final team results Saturday afternoon as they enter the weekend with ten top-five league marks. Leading the way is sprinter Jon Gregory coming off setting a pair of school records at the Titan Challenge. His program-best 21.96 in the 200 tops the conference while his 7.03 in the 60 is tied for second. Gregory also holds the best 400 time this season at 49.89. St. Norbert also the top 60 hurdler and 800-meter runner as Sam Stelloh is first in the hurdles (8.59) while Matt Holloway has the fastest half mile time (1:56.89). With the graduation of Monmouth All-America pole Vaulter Dan Evers, the Green Knights Max Schermacher, who finished runner-up last year, looks to take the crown as he leads the MWC with a clearance of 4.33m.