Scots Roll to Four Crowns on Day 1 of Midwest Conference Track and Field Championships

Monmouth, IL (02/29/2020) — Monmouth's men and women were 1-2 after combining for four titles on Day 1 of the 2020 Midwest Conference Track and Field Championships in Grinnell, Iowa.

Sophomore Kareema Lawal earned her first league title, throwing a personal-best to take the shot put by just over 3". Lawal landed the shot 42'4-1/4" to claim the women's only title on the day, the first Monmouth title in the women's shot since 2014. Leigha Sebben added points in the event, placing fifth with a mark of 40'10-1/4".

Drew Thaxton won the men's shot, equaling his lifetime-best set last week to lead three Scots in the top 4. Thaxton heaved the sphere 53'4-1/4", winning the event by more than 5'. Andy Bird's 47'5-3/4" placed him third, just ahead of Joe Krall - last year's title holder - who threw the shot this year 46'10-1/4".

Darius Williams had a hand in the Scots' other two titles on opening day. The junior took the long jump crown, leaping a personal-best 23'1-1/4", making it the third straight year a Scot has won the event. Austin Pfau placed fifth at 21'6-3/4". Williams teamed with Stone Darrow, Lucas Sondgeroth and Zach Vancil to defend the Scots' 4x200 crown, breaking the tape in 1:30.61.

Monmouth pole vaulters jumped to runner up and fourth-place finishes. Reed Wilson cleared a personal-best 15'5" to place second in the men's event, 6" shy of the winning height. Katie Hayes placed fourth in the women's vault after reaching 10'1-1/4".

In the distance races, Arika Hofmann and Mik Moore bunched points in the mile where they finished 4-5. Hofmann clocked a 5:22.93 while Moore finished in 5:24.47. Griff Morrill ran a 15:54.22 in the 5,000 where he placed fifth.

Cindy Ladner took a runner up finish in the long jump, equaling her personal-best and then broke the Scots record in the 60-meter dash prelims. Ladner's long jump of 17'11-3/4" was 1" ahead of the third-place finisher.

A school-record 60 dash time of 7.83 qualified Ladner for Saturday's finals with the third-fastest time on Friday. Kenzie Baker will join Ladner in the event after finishing sixth in the prelims with a PR of 8.02.

Monmouth's men qualified the full compliment of runners for the finals of the men's 60. Defending champion Stone Darrow clocked the prelims' top time with a Monmouth honor roll time of 6.95, the only sub-7.00 time on Day 1. Lucas Sondgeroth advanced with a 7.10 for the fourth seed and Seby Wolf enters Saturday's finals with the seventh-fastest time of 7.22.

The Scots also have two in Saturday's men's and women's 60-meter hurdles finals. Alex Cutright and Vanessa Caldwell each posted the second-fastest prelim times. Cutright with an 8.58 in the men's race and Caldwell with a 9.23 in the women's.

Saturday's competition begins at 10:30 a.m. with the field events. The running events are scheduled for a noon start. Monmouth's men, searching for their 21st straight team title, leads St. Norbert by four points, 69-65 after Day 1. It's reversed on the women's side where the Green Knights lead the Scots 69-48.

The meet will be live streamed and have live results coverage. The links are available on the MonmouthScots.com website.