Scots Win Three Events at First Day of MWC Indoor Championships

Rusk, Hursey, Toberman claim titles

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (02/24/2024) — The Monmouth College track and field teams had three individual wins on Friday in the first day of the Midwest Conference Indoor Championships. Heading into Saturday's final day, the women's team is in second place with 60.5 points while the men's team is in third place with 40.5 points. The women trail Ripon by 12 points while the men are 4.5 points behind Cornell and 2.5 behind Ripon. Full results were not provided.

Women
Miranda Hursey (Hanna City, Illinois) won the pole vault with a career-high 3.34m, the sixth-best vault in Monmouth history. This is the ninth time the Scots have won the women's pole vault indoors and Linsey Turner won the event last year at 3.18m. Delaney Rexroat (Monmouth, Illinois) finished third with a career-high 3.04m and Megan Dailey (Pendleton, Indiana) earned three points with a sixth-place finish.

Maddie Rusk (Annawan, Illinois) won the long jump with a career-best 5.47m. She is the second Monmouth woman to win the long jump in the last three years, joining Alyssa Villarreal from 2022.

In the shot put, Maddie Boley (Beecher, Illinois) finished second at 12.62m with Gracie Gibbons (Altona, Illinois) in third at 12.23m, Alayna Earle (Clinton, Illinois) in fourth at 11.98m and Kayla Braun (Evansville, Illinois) in fifth at 11.98m. Boley won the shot put indoors last year with a throw of 12.52m.

In the high jump, Lauren Anderson (Cambridge, Illinois) finished tied for fifth with a career-best 1.50m as she earned 3.5 points

In the prelims of the 60m dash, Rusk and Makaiha Moore-Bell (Knoxville, Illinois) both advanced to Saturday's final. Moore-Bell ran 8.12 seconds to finish sixth and Rusk was right behind her in 8.17 seconds.

The sprint medley relay team of Ally Celus (Annawan, Illinois), Carina Engst (Bloomington, Illinois), Nicole Hoyer (Montgomery, Illinois) and Danielle Johnson (Annawan, Illinois) took ninth in 4:38.25.

The 4x200m relay team of Rusk, Moore-Bell, Celus and Tayler Raska (Galesburg, Illinois) finished fourth in 1:50.04

Men
Caleb Toberman (Clifton, Illinois) defended his title in the shot put with a career-best throw of 15.36m. Blake Orwig (Wyoming, Illinois) and Shane Anderson (Lisle, Illinois) tied for second at 13.74m while Gunner Bryant (Curryville, Missouri) took sixth place with a throw of 13.02m. Toberman won the indoor shot put last year at 14.16m and his Friday throw is just outside the top 50 nationally this season and ranks 11th on the Monmouth all-time list.

In the 60m prelims, Da'Von Patterson (Ponte Vedra, Florida) qualified for Saturday's final. He finished eighth on Friday with a time of 7.22.

The sprint medley relay team of Adrian Outlaw (Galesburg, Illinois), Patrick Curry, Jr. (Chicago, Illinois), Eli Newton (Dallas City, Illinois) and Logan Morse (Yates City, Illinois) finished second in 3:35.53.

The 4x200 relay team of Patterson, Outlaw, Curry and Xavier Camper (Grayslake, Illinois) finished third in 1;31.72.

NEXT UP:

Day two of the Indoor Championships is Saturday at Ripon. Field events begin at 10:30 a.m. with the weight throw, triple jump, men's high jump and men's pole vault. The track events begin at Noon.

NCAA Division III National Rankings (as of 8pm 2/23/24)
8 - Shane Anderson - weight throw (19.05m)
11 - Caleb Toberman - weight throw (18.77m)
36 - Maddie Boley - shot put (13.06m)
42 - Maddie Rusk - long jump (5.47m)

Career Highs for indoor meets (does not include those participating in an event for the first time)

Competitor - event - new career high (old career high)
Lauren Anderson - high jump - 1.50m (1.45m)
Melissa Bivolarov - mile - 6:11.62 (6:15.20)
Neo Colter - mile - 4:49.72 (4:52.02)
Alayna Earle - shot put - 11.98m (11.59m)
Lane Grice - 60m - 7.36s (7.47)
Miranda Hursey - pole vault - 3.34m (3.29m)
Delaney Rexroat - pole vault - 3.04m (3.00m)
Maddie Rusk - long jump - 5.47m (5.21m)
Bill Sanders - long jump - 6.19m (6.01m)
Bill Sanders - 60m - 7.45s (7.49)
Caleb Toberman - shot put - 15.36m (15.30m)