Midwest Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships
February 27 & 28, 2015 at Grinnell College

Saturday, Feb. 28: Results
GRINNELL, Iowa – The Prairie Fire track and field teams put up points in three more events on the last day of the MWC indoor championships.

Both Knox teams placed 10th in the team standings with the men scoring eight points and the women two.  On the men's side, the coaches voted to not score the distance medley relay race because some teams ran one extra lap.  That cost the Prairie Fire a fourth place finish and five points.

Knox scored with eighth place finishes in the women's distance medley relay, the women's weight throw, and the men's 800 meter race.

Juniors Grace Neubauer (Inverness, IL, Wiliam Fremd) and Carolina Goncalves (Chicago, IL, Walter Payton College Prep) teamed up with sophomore Theresa Birzer (Fort Dodge, IA, Saint Edmond) and first-year Rebecca Katz (Columbia, MO, David H. Hickman) to finish the distance medley relay race in a time of 14:01.00.  That ranks #8 all-time at Knox.  Senior Nicolette Bridgeforth (Chicago, IL, Guerin Prep) had a weight throw distance of 39' 8" and senior Ezekiel Jere (Lusaka, Zambia, SOS Hermann-Gmeiner International) ran the 800 in 2:01.29.

Katz and sophomore Jessica Fritts (Scottsdale, AZ, Foothills Academy) also set new all-time top 10 individual indoor marks for the Prairie Fire.  Katz finished the 3000 meter race in 11:37.72 for #7 on the individual list, and Fritts moved up to #9 in the weight throw with a distance of 36' 8 ¼" that beat her previous best (31' 3 ¼") by more than five feet.

Monmouth College edged St. Norbert College to win a 16th consecutive men's championship.  St. Norbert claimed the women's title for the first time in over two decades by a wide margin over runner-up Carroll University.

The Midwest Conference will have recaps from both days on its website.  The 2015 MWC Indoor Track and Field Championships page is available here

Knox begins the outdoor track and field season with a home meet (Knox Outdoor Open) on March 28 on Turner Track at Trevor Field.


Friday, Feb. 27: Results
GRINNELL, Iowa – The Prairie Fire scored in three men's events out of the seven held on the first day of the conference meet.

The Knox 4x200 meter relay team led the way with a sixth place finish.  First-year runners Donnye Sommerville-Thomas (Clayton, MO, Clayton) and Michael Moss (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg), sophomore Jeremy Rainey-Brown (Chicago, IL, Walter Payton College Prep), and junior Patrick Ford (Chicago, IL, Rowe-Clark Math and Science Academy) teamed for a season-best time of 1:37.22.

Senior Ezekiel Jere (Lusaka, Zambia, SOS Hermann-Gmeiner International) placed seventh in the mile and junior Brian Cole (Warson Woods, MO, Webster Groves) was seventh in the 5000 meter run to account for the Prairie Fire's remaining points on day one.  Jere ran a personal-best 4:35.66 that ranks #5 on the Knox all-time top 10 performance list.  Cole posted the fastest 5K race of his career in 16:02.77 for #8 on the all-time top 10 individual list.

The Prairie Fire added two more all-time top 10 marks.  Moss sprinted to a time of 7.88 seconds in the 60 meter dash which is #9 on the individual list.  First-year runner Frances Larsen (Anchorage, AK, West Anchorage) finished the 5000 meters in 20:27.67, moving her up to #7 on the individual list.

A busy second and final day of the meet resumes on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.