Three Conference Champs Crowned as Green Knights Place Second at MWC Indoor Meet

From Sports Information Director, February 26, 2011 | Men's Track & Field
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

GRINNELL, Iowa - St. Norbert College picked up championships in three events as the Green Knights finished second at the Midwest Conference Indoor Track and Field Meet at Grinnell College's Bear Athletic Center.

The Green Knights registered 128 points to finish in second place for the second consecutive year and for the fifth time in nine years. Monmouth College won their 12th consecutive championship with 217 points. Ripon College was in third with 114 points.

St. Norbert crowned champions when Nathan Heppe claimed the 800-meter run, Mackenzie Laska the 5,000-meter run as well as the distance medley relay.

Heppe won the 800-meter run in a time of 1:57.18 to nip Grinnell College's Noah DeLong at the tape by eight-hundredths of a second. Heppe also finished fifth in the 1-mile run with a time of 4:29.03.

Laska won the 5,000-meter run with a time of 15:23.91 to easily outdistance Monmouth's Geoff Bird's runner-up time of 15:31.19. Laska added a fourth-place showing in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:56.75.

The distance medley relay of Mike Linzmeier, David Mason, Benny Swift and Laska won with a time of 10:36.20. The sprint medley relay of Mason, Tyler Seidl, Ryan Ascher and Jake Schneider was second in 3:38.63.

Dann Schneider finished second in the long jump with a best leap of 22 feet 7 3/4 inches. Jordan Gobert was second in the pole vault at 13-11 1/4, and Mike Verfuerth was second in the 55-meter hurdles in 7.98 seconds.

Verfuerth added a third in the long jump at 22-4 1/2, while Dann Schneider was fourth in the triple jump at 44-0 1/2 and fifth in the 200-meter dash in 22.95 seconds.

Jake Day finished tied for third in the pole vault at 13-5 1/4, while Jake Schneider was fourth in the 800-meter run at 1:58.44. Joe McArdle was fourth in the shot put with a heave of 42-11 3/4. Louis Ayensu-Mensah placed fifth in the 55-meter dash in 6.67 seconds.

The 800-meter relay of Dann Schneider, Brent Schreiber, Ayensu-Mensah and Verfuerth was third in 1:32.25. The 4x400-meter relay of Mason, Jake Schneider, Heppe and Ryan Ascher was fourth in 3:30.21.