January 17, 2012
Track
Josiah Norville - Illinois College
Senior - Batavia, Ill.
Norville broke Illinois College’s 55-meter hurdle record twice at the 2012 Titan Opener on Saturday, breaking the old mark of 7.99 seconds first in the preliminaries (7.90 seconds) and again in the finals (7.86 seconds). Norville’s personal-best effort was good enough for third place. The Illinois College senior also took second in the 55-meter dash (6.71 seconds) and eighth in the 200-meter dash (24.18 seconds) at the season-opening meet.
Field
DeAndre Smith - Monmouth College
Junior - Carbondale, Ill.
Smith threw a personal best last week as the Fighting Scots finished second in the nine-team Sol Butler Invitational. The junior’s personal best shot put of 50’2” won by 4’ and ranks as the seventh-best throw in Division III. Smith was less than an inch shy of his lifetime best in the weight throw where his mark of 50’7.5” placed him fourth.
January 24, 2012
Track
Matt Wood - Ripon College
Junior - Port Washington, Wis.
Wood placed first in the 400 meters with an MWC-leading time of 51.02 at Saturday’s UW-Whitewater Invitational. He also added a fourth-place finish in the 200 meters, which saw him record a time of 22.99, which ranks second in the MWC.
Field
Kyle Novack - Ripon College
Freshman - Two Rivers, Wis.
Novack helped Ripon to a sixth-place finish out of 13 teams at Saturday’s UW-Whitewater Invitational, placing second in the pole vault with a height of 13-09.5. That is the best height in the event in the MWC this season.
January 31, 2012
Track
Joe Pliner - Carroll University
Senior - Green Bay, Wis.
Joe Pliner set a new school record in the one mile run to lead the Carroll University men’s track and field team to a fifth place finish at the Carthage College Invitational. Pliner, a senior from Green Bay, Wis. (Ashwaubenon), won the event with a time of 4:20.56, topping the previous school record of 4:21.24 set by Kirk Udovich in 1981.
Field
Tim Teslicka - Illinois College
Sophomore - Macomb, Ill.
Teslicka turned in the top performance in the pole vault at the Principia Relays, clearing 14 feet, 5 1/4 inches on Friday in Elsah, Illinois. Teslicka’s mark is the best turned in by a Midwest Conference student-athlete this year.
February 7
Track
Josiah Norville - Illinois College
Senior - Batavia, Ill.
Norville scored a first-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles and broke his own school record for the third time this year in the process. Norville clocked a time of 8.35 seconds, cutting two-hundredths of a second off the school-record time he set last on January 21. Norville also competed in the 60-meter dash, turning in a time of 7.20 seconds, which was just two-hundredths of a second slower than his best this year. Norville currently ranks 12th in the nation in the 60-meter hurdles.
Field
Caleb Cox - Illinois College
Sophomore - Chatham, Ill.
Cox now ranks second in the nation after a first-place performance in the heptathlon at Illinois Wesleyan University. Cox turned in a score of 5,027 points after finishing second (in a field of 25) in five of his seven events. Cox was second in the 55-meter hurdles (8.20), high jump (6 feet, 2 3/4 inches), pole vault (13 feet, 9 3/4 inches), long jump (21 feet, 8 1/2 inches) and shot put (39 feet, 3 1/2 inches).