Elliot Powell (Orange, Calif./Santa Ana H.S.) set a pair of school records on Saturday afternoon helping lead Valparaiso to a fourth place finish at the Mid-Continent Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships held in Sterling, Ill.

The Crusaders scored 64 points in the two-day event, nine more than fifth place Chicago State. Southern Utah was crowned conference champions with 158 points, while Western Illinois posted 156 points. Oral Roberts was third with 137 points, while UMKC finished sixth scoring 48 points.

Powell turned in a second place finish in the 200m dash with a time of 22.33 seconds, just .14 seconds off of the lead. His time bettered his own school record set earlier this season by .25 seconds. He also finished third in the 60m dash with a mark of 7.01 seconds, just .05 behind the victor. He bettered Antoine Ward's 1999 school mark of 7.13 seconds.

In the 60m hurdles, Adam Wierciak (Ottawa, Ill./Marquette H.S.) turned in a sixth place effort for the Brown and Gold with a time of 8.69 seconds, while Sean Barfield (University Place, Wash./Curtis H.S.) was seventh in the same event, just .09 second behind his teammate.

In the 5000m run, Matt Blume (Logansport, Ind./Pioneer H.S.) earned a pair of points for the Crusaders with his seventh place finish with a time of 15:25.56. Dennis Kabara (Chuka, Kenya/Meru H.S.) finished eighth in the mile with a mark of 4:30.64, while Matthew Wheeler (Dixon, Ill./Dixon H.S.) was the Brown and Gold's top finisher in the 800m run with a time of 2:02.28.

In the final running event of the day, Valpo's 4x400m relay of Wierciak, Jeff Moscinski (Rockford, Ill./Christian Life H.S.), Mark Reddel (Melrose Park, Ill./Walther Lutheran H.S.), and Wheeler finished in third place, crossing the finish line in a time of 3:25.19.

On the infield on Saturday, Jon Braun (Saratoga, Wyo./Saratoga H.S.) earned a fourth place finish in the high jump, clearing 6'3 ½". The triple jump saw Wierciak and Braun both earn points for the team, as Wierciak finished sixth with a leap of 40'6", while Braun was eight with a jump of 39'3 ¾".

Todd Goodrick (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester H.S.) finished in sixth place in the shot put for Valpo with a toss of 48'0 ½", while teammate Bryan Bell (Bellevue, Neb./Bellevue East H.S.) was one place back with a throw of 47'2 ½".

Valpo will conclude its indoor campaign next weekend as the Crusaders travel to Notre Dame, Ind. for the Alex Wilson Invitational Friday's events begin at 6 p.m. CST, while Saturday's competition will start at 10 a.m. CST.