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

GRINNELL, Iowa – St. Norbert College is shooting for its fourth straight Midwest Conference (MWC) Indoor Track & Field Championship while Monmouth College looks to retake the title it last won in 2012, the last of 13 in a row. The Scots will have the advantage of competing at home as they are the host of the 2019 Conference meet Friday and Saturday.
 
Field events start at 1 p.m. on Friday with the track events begin at 2:45 p.m. 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
The Buccaneers look to challenge the favorites in St. Norbert and Monmouth by controlling the sand pits as they hold three of the top four marks in the long jump and the triple jump. Eva-Laun Smith, the 2018 Outstanding Field Performer, ranks first in the long jump at 5.57m and second in the triple jump at 11.45m. Teammates Lena Ramsey and Aleeshah Heinzen are third (11.08m) and fourth (10.89m) in the triple jump and fourth (5.23m) and third (5.28m) in the long jump respectively. Laun-Smith also leads the Conference in the 60 hurdles by a whopping .14 seconds with her time of 9.06.
 
Cornell Rams
Cornell will look to last year’s 400-meter runner-up Emma Cochrane and third-place weight thrower Octavia Martinez to lead the way this weekend. Cochrane enters with the second fastest 400 time at 57.64 as well as the third best 200 with a time of 25.98. Martinez ranks sixth in the shot put (11.76m) and ninth in the weight throw (13.60).
 
Grinnell Pioneers
Ange Lukoseviciute broke the Pioneer record in the weight throw in four straight meets during the season and enters the Conference meet with the top mark of 15.89m. She also ranks fifth in the shot put with a throw of 11.93m. Grinnell also has two athletes sitting in second as Emma Schaefer’s 5,000 time of 19:10.39 is second best while Sarina Kopf is second in the pole vault at 3.28m.
 
Illinois College Lady Blues
The Lady Blues feature the defending 60-meter champion in Andrea Hyde who comes into the 2019 meet with the second fastest time at 7.80. Her time was converted from a school record 7.24 performance in the 55-meter dash last weekend. Hyde also ranks second in the 200 with a time of 25.66.  Thrower Jenna Kennedy broke a program record in the weight throw a couple of weeks ago and sits second with her toss of 15.22m.
 
Knox Prairie Fire
The Prairie Fire’s hopes for points rest with first-year standout Takira Koonce. She broke the school record in the 60 and 200 this season. Her 200 time of 25.51 leads the Conference while her 60 time of 7.86 ranks third.
 
Lake Forest Foresters
Two-time school record breaker Yaneli Guajardo leads the distance-only Forester squad. Guajardo ran the fastest mile in program history last weekend and ranks second in the Conference with her time of 5:13.36. She also broke the school record in the 3,000 with her time of 10:55.78 that ranks third in the league. Joining her is Emily Staufer who is sixth in the mile (5:24.74) and fifth in the 3K (11:04.54).
 
Lawrence Vikings
A pair of distance runners will lead the Vikings at the MWC Indoor Championship this weekend. Alex Chand has the eighth fastest mile time at 5:28.04 while Leah Hawksford is ninth in the 5,000 with a time of 19:52.30.
 
Monmouth Fighting Scots
The Scots return two All-Conference performers from a season ago as well as have a freshman sprinter who ranks fourth in three events. Vanessa Caldwell was the runner-up in the 60 hurdles a year ago and enters the 2019 meet with the fourth best time at 9.30. High jumper Aleeka Gentzler ranks second with a clearance of 1.58m after finishing third in 2018. Freshman Jordan Peckham enters her first conference meet with the fourth best time in the 60 (7.98), the 200 (26.06), and the 400 (58.72).
 
Ripon Red Hawks
Multi-event specialist Callista DeCramer has broken her own school record in an event at almost every meet this season. She enters the MWC Indoor Championship with top-three marks in four different events highlighted by her Conference-best 11.65m in the triple jump. DeCramer is also second in the long jump at 5.45m and the 60 hurdles with a time of 9.20 while ranking third in the high jump at 1.56m. Distance runner Madison King is third in the 5,000 with a time of 19:11.71.
 
St. Norbert Green Knights
All season long St. Norbert has dominated the mid-distance events. The Green Knights 4x400 relay team is coming off a school-record performance with a time that also ranks second in Division III. Defending 400 champion, Maddie LeBrun, once again enters the Conference meet with the top time at 57.57 while Sarah Duff is third with a time of 58.28. The trio of Graceanne Tarsa, Kelley Gardipee, and Joyanna Tarsa are 1-2-3 in the mile with Graceann and Gardipee also sitting 1-2 in the 3,000. St. Norbert has three ranked in the top-four of the pole vault, led by 2018 runner-up Kirsten Carrigan’s 3.38m. Graceanne Tarsa is the defending champion and currently ranks fourth at 3.25m just behind teammate Sara DeGroot’s 3.26m. The Green Knights also look to rack up points in the shot put as senior duo Kristina Herman and Savanna Smith are first (12.54m) and second (12.38). Finally, Audrey Makope is first in the 60 (7.77), Gretchen Price is first in the 5,000 (18:56.90), and Lauren Rottier is first in the high jump (1.62m).