Saturday, February 22, 2003

The Valparaiso men's track and field team earned a tie for ninth place while setting two school records at the Chicagoland Championships on Saturday afternoon in Romeoville, Ill. in the team's final tune-up for next week's conference championships.

Adam Wierciak (Ottawa, Ill./Marquette H.S.) set a new school record on the way to his victory in the 200m hurdles. His time of 25.94 seconds bettered his own previous school record of 26.90 seconds by nearly a full second.

The 4x200m relay of Joe Dwyer (Lansing, Ill./TF South H.S.), Joshua Lee (Yellow Jacket, Colo./Montezuma-Cortez H.S.), Scott Hill (Goshen, Ind./Northwood H.S.), and Jeff Moscinski (Rockford, Ill./Christian Life H.S.) crossed the finish line 1:33.45, .45 seconds ahead of the 1998 record.

Elsewhere on the track, Hill earned an eighth place finish in the 55m dash with a time of 6.68 seconds, while Nathanael Noon (Birmingham, Ala./John Carroll H.S.) finished seventh in the 55m hurdles, crossing the line in 8.06 seconds.

In the distance events, Rick Wenger (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere H.S.) finished seventh in the 3000m run with a time of 8:58.14, while Dennis Kabara (Chuka, Kenya/Meru H.S.) was ninth in the 800m run with a time of 2:00.28.

On the infield, Matt Larson (Arlington Heights, Ill./St. Viator H.S.) finished in fourth place in the weight throw with a heave of 44'11". Teammate Todd Goodrick (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester H.S.) was sixth with a toss of 44'8 ¼". Goodrick also finished seventh in the shot put with a mark of 44 1 ½".

Brandon Sessler (Ellinwood, Kan./Ellinwood H.S.) finished seventh in the high jump, clearing 6'2", while also placing tenth in the triple jump (42'7 ½"). Lee scored for Valpo in the long jump, placing seventh with a leap of 21'8".

The Crusaders will return to action next weekend when the Mid-Continent Conference Championships are contested in Sterling, Ill. The meet begins on Friday.