Contact: Heather Benning, Executive Director, 920-430-0934

GRINNELL, Iowa - The 2018 Midwest Conference (MWC) Men's Track & Field Championship opens tomorrow at Monmouth College's April Zorn Memorial Stadium. The two-day event is scheduled to begin Friday at 12:30 p.m. with field events, while the first running event starts at 2:00 p.m.
 
Men's competition resumes Saturday at 11:00 a.m. with the shot put and triple jump, followed by the opening of track events at 12:15 p.m. The final event of the meet is the 4x400, scheduled to start at 3:25 Saturday afternoon.
 
Host institution Monmouth College enters as a two-time defending champion and perennial power, claiming 16 of the last 17 outdoor championships. The most significant threats to Monmouth capturing a three-peat are Illinois College, who finished second to Monmouth at the 2018 MWC Indoor Track & Field Championships, St. Norbert College and Cornell College.
 
The Illinois College Blueboys lead the Conference in the sprinting events, with top times in the 100, 200, 400, 4x100 and 4x400. Junior Gregary Cross, the defending champion in the 100m, clocked a 10.80 at last week's Monmouth College Fighting Scots Outdoor Invitational for the top time heading into tomorrow's prelims. Cross has the second-fastest time in the 200m (22.01). Teammate Brett Peifer has the quickest mark in the 200m (21.94) and 400m (48.72) and is ranked 5th in the 100 (11.00). Cross and Peifer combined with sophomore Nifesimi Williams and junior Chris Moore to run a 41.60 in the 4x100 back in April, a mark that currently ranks 15th in the nation and first in the MWC. The Blueboys lead seedtime in the 4x400 is 3:18.30 - posted by Peifer, Moore, Jaxon Rieke (JR) and Dominic Aiello (SR).
 
Beloit College's Jose Gutierrez will look to repeat as champion of the 110H and 400H.  Gutierrez is ranked first in the shorter event (14.86), and Monmouth's Vaughn Gentzler is a close second (14.87). In the 400 distance, Gutierrez has the top time (53.20) and is ranked 12th in the nation. 
 
In the middle distance events, Cornell is a strong contender for a 1500m sweep with a trio of juniors who went 1-2-3 at last year's Championship. Mason Wicker leads the group with a time of 4.00.19, followed by Cuyler Gabriel (4:01.51), and Austin Bach (4:01.83). Wicker's time currently ranks 21st in the country. Lake Forest, who is competing in the MWC Outdoor Championship for the first time after revitalizing its track program this year, boasts the league leader in the 800m. First-year Darrian Lockett ran a 1:56.39 back on April 7.
 
Tyler Bland (JR) of Monmouth College returns to defend his title in the 3000m Steeplechase, while Lawrence University's Josh Janusiak is the favorite in the 5000m and 10,000m. The junior is the league's defending champion in the 10K, an event in which he is ranked 11th in the country (30:17.00). Janusiak’s 5K time of 14:34.55 ranks 15th nationally.
 
Monmouth occupies the top position in every jumping event. Dan Evers is ranked second in the country and tops the MWC in the pole vault (17' 6.5"). Freshman Darius Williams leads the league with his mark of 21' 11.5" in the long jump, while classmate Seth Anderson is first in the triple jump (44' 0.75") and high jump (6' 6").
 
In the throws, Monmouth's John Hintz is a favorite in the discus and hammer, both events in which he holds Top 30 national marks. Illinois College's Brant Bess ranks first in the javelin with a toss of 195' 10", ranking him 20th in all of Division III. Bess is the defending champion in the event. Senior Dominic DeBenedetto of St. Norbert is the top performer to date in the shot put with a toss of 49' 11.25".