Knox Open results

Galesburg, IL – The Prairie Fire began the outdoor track and field season with four first place finishes and seven new all-time top 10 entries during the Knox Open on Friday.

Three seniors won events for the Knox men’s team. 

Joe Puntoriero (Cheektowaga, New York, Cleveland Hill) placed first in the 200 meter dash in 22.54 seconds.  He was also third in the 100 meter dash, finishing the race in 11.45 seconds.

Sean Choate (Chicago, IL, Chicago Academy) posted a nearly three second victory over the runner-up in the 3000 meter run.  He crossed the finish line in 9:13.98 followed by the second place finisher in 9:16.96.  Choate also ran well in the 1500 meters, placing second in 4:17.74.  First-year Victor Schultz (Staunton, VA, Robert E Lee) finished fourth in the 1500 with his time of 4:24.45.

Jonas Mack (Algonquin, IL, Cary-Grove), back this season after placing second in the javelin to earn a medal at the 2012 Midwest Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, is off to a strong start this spring.  Mack recorded a distance of 48.65 meters, or 159' 7" on Friday, followed by junior teammate Weston Chenoweth (Canton, IL, Canton) with a second place throw of 42.18 meters.

Mack's throw ranks fifth on the all-time top 10 performance list.  He also has the fourth-longest javelin throw in school history -- 162' 3" -- which he set at the conference meet last spring at St. Norbert College.

The Prairie Fire men’s 4x400 relay team finished second at the meet in 3:43.48.  The runners were juniors Matt Brongo (Eureka, IL, Eureka) and Bobby Mueller (Woodridge, IL, Downers Grove South), Puntoriero, and Mack.

Brongo and Mueller also finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 800 meters.

Chenoweth had the men’s team’s second third place effort with a throw of 13.25 meters in the shot put.  Knox also held the next two spots as junior Devin Compton (Aurora, IL, West Aurora) finished fourth (12.33 meters) and first-year Brennan McGlauchlen (Inver Grove Heights, MN, Simley) was fifth (12.10 meters).

In another throws event, Knox placed fourth through seventh in the hammer. 

Senior Dan Johnson (Chicago, IL, Luther South) was fourth out of 14 participants with his distance of 40.98 meters, or 134' 5" for 10th place on the all-time top 10 performance list.  Johnson owns three of the top 10 hammer throws on the list (7th, 8th, and 10th).  Following him in the event standings were senior Paul Lebryk (Glenview, IL, Glenbrook South) in fifth place, Compton in sixth, and Chenoweth seventh.

Compton and Chenoweth recorded career-best throws of 121' 7" to tie for seventh place on the all-time individual list.  Lebryk established his career-best throw of 129' 0" at last year's outdoor track and field conference meet.

Chenoweth was also fifth in the discus out of 15 participants.

Sophomore ShirJia Bielefeld (Weston, WI, DC Everest) had a first place finish for the Prairie Fire women’s team in the pole vault.  She cleared 8' 1/2" for fifth on the all-time top 10 individual list for a women's pole vaulter. 

Knox placed second in two other events – sophomore Colleen Shelly (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg) in the 100 meter hurdles and junior Danielle Erikson (Mokena, IL, Lincoln-Way East) in the javelin.  Sophomore Nicolette Bridgeforth (Chicago, IL, Guerin Prep) also had a top three effort by placing third in the javelin behind Erikson.

Sophomore distance runner Grace Neubauer (Inverness, IL, William Fremd) finished third for Knox in the 1500 meter run in a time of 5:41.19.

Two field performers for the Prairie Fire turned in top five performances.  Sophomore Derinn Wallace (Springfield, IL, Glenwood) was fifth in the shot put (8.93 meters) and junior Sophia Mwaura (Santa Fe, NM, Santa Fe Prep) placed fifth in the hammer throw (32.80 meters).

Bridgeforth and Wallace moved into the all-time top 10 in the hammer throw with their efforts in the event.  Bridgeforth's throw traveled 101' 1" for seventh on the all-time individual list while Wallace's distance was 82' 1" for a ranking of ninth on the list.

U.S. Olympian Gia Lewis-Smallwood took part in the meet as an unattached athlete.  A group of people showed up to watch her throw the discus.  Her best throw sailed 58.96 meters, or 193’ 5” before finally landing. 

Scores were not kept at the meet which also had teams from Beloit College, Cornell College, and Eureka College – as well as several unattached participants.

The Knox track and field teams resume competition on April 6 at the Ashford University Spring Invitational in Clinton, Iowa.  Events begin at 10:30 a.m.

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