Track and Field News Releases

Craw sets NCAA provisional mark in shot put at Cornell Invitational

Ram Review - Cornell sophomore Madison Craw (Mason City/Mason City) enjoyed a stellar season debut, claiming the shot put title with an NCAA provisional mark Saturday at the Cornell Indoor Track and Field Invitational in Mount Vernon.

Craw was joined by seniors Brittany Sperl (Boyd, Wis./Stanley-Boyd) and Julia Hanson (Charles City/Charles City) as individual champions for the Cornell women, who finished third in the five-team field with 96 points. St. Ambrose posted a winning score of 133 points, followed by Loras with 115.5.

The Cornell men's squad also took third in the team race with 87 points, highlighted with a victory in the 4x200 relay. St. Ambrose won the men's title with 173 points. Loras was second with 132.

"As a coaching staff we felt like we took a good step forward this weekend," Cornell head coach Lonnie Speidel said. "That was the goal, to build off our start at Knox as we move forward toward the conference championships in five weeks."

Craw registered two provisional marks in her first five throws and then uncorked a big toss of 43 feet, 9 inches on her final attempt. The mark ranks third nationally on the 2008-09 Division III indoor performance list and is tops among shot putters this 2009 indoor season. Craw beat runner-up Mandy Streu of St. Ambrose by 15 inches.

Craw met the provisional mark of 42-8. The automatic qualifying mark for the indoor national championships is 45-11.25.

"The meet highlight was Madison's win in the shot put," Speidel said. "This is a great start to the season for Madison, who missed last week's meet at Knox. I was also happy to see Brittany (Sperl) and Julia (Hanson) continue their winning ways in both the triple jump and weight throw."

Sperl notched her second win of the season in the triple jump (33-6). Hanson picked up her second straight victory in the weight throw (46-07.50) after setting a school record in the event last week.  

The Rams piled up several team points in the distance races. Senior Rachelle Hawkins (Boise, Idaho/Bishop Kelly) took second in the mile (5:19.17), followed by teammates Lindsey Kuhlman (Fairbank/Wapsie Valley) in third and Ellie Hutchison (Greeley, Colo./Greeley Central) in fourth. Sophomore Allie Jagielo (Almond, Wis./Tri-County) finished runner-up in the 3000 (11:02.6). Andrea Aerts (David City, Neb./East Butler) and Amanda Jepson (Wayland/WACO) took fourth and fifth, respectively.

The Cornell men raced to victory in the 4x200. The quartet of Antonio Galvez (Cypress, Texas/Cy-Fair), Nate Schueller (Galena, Ill./East Dubuque), Khaliph Green (Chicago, Ill./St. Ignatius College Prep) and Dan Netwal (Eldridge/North Scott) recorded a winning time of 1:40.87, nearly two seconds ahead of runner-up St. Ambrose.

The Rams had runner-up finishes from freshman Reed Skoog (Overland Park, Kan./Shawnee Mission South) in the 400 (53.4), Netwal in the high jump (6-0.75) and the 4x400 relay (3:35.5) of Skoog, Mike Jeanmenne (Chicago, Ill./Dunlap), Schueller and Adam Rooyakkers (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly).

James Wohrley (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) took third in the 55 hurdles and shot put. Andrew Tobben (Washington, Mo./St. Francis Borgia) was third in the mile and Chase Nowak (Colorado Springs, Colo./Cheyenne Mountain) placed third in the 3000.

"We have this upcoming weekend off, which is block break and will allow the kids to get a break both mentally and physically," Speidel said. "We will use this week to get some good training and also get healthy."

Craw earns IIAC honor - Craw was rewarded for her weekend performance by being named the Iowa Conference's Women's Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Week for the period ending Jan. 25. She is Cornell's first female athlete to earn the league's weekly track and field honor since pole vaulter Heather Axen was recognized on Feb. 19, 2006.  

Cornell Invitational Results
Saturday, Jan. 24
Small Multi-Sport Center Arena
Mount Vernon, Iowa

Women's Final Team Standings
1. St. Ambrose 133, 2. Loras 115.5, 3. Cornell 96, 4. Coe 76, 5. Mount Mercy 67.5.

Cornell results
55 hurdles - 8. Anna Guittar 9.75. 200 dash - 12. Allie Nappe 31.4. 800 run - 4. Allison Newman 2:38.2, 6. Laura Lindsay 2:41.2. Mile - 2. Rachelle Hawkins 5:19.17, 3. Lindsey Kuhlmann 5:41.49, 4. Ellie Hutchison 5:44.66. 3000 run - 2. Allie Jagielo 11:02.6, 4. Andrea Aerts 11:19.1, 5. Amanda Jepson 11:21.5. Long jump - 5. Brittany Sperl 14-05.25, 6. Allie Nappe 13-08.25. High Jump - 3. Jessica Strains 3-11.25. Triple jump - 1. Brittany Sperl 33-06.00, 4. Jessica Strains 31-09.50. Pole Vault - 4. Michelle Hannemann 8-00.00. Weight throw - 1. Julia Hanson 46-07.50, 5. Kelsey Harper 42-09.50, 6. Madison Craw 42-08.00, 10. Kirtley Hitt 37-03.75, 13. Kelly Kall 31-10.75, 14. Jenny South 28-11.75. Shot put - 1. Madison Craw 43-09.00, 5. Kelsey Harper 35-03.00, 9. Kirtley Hitt 32-04.25, 10. Kelly Kall 29-02.50, 11. Jenny South 28-10.50. 4x200 - 4. (Sperl, Nappe, Strains, Guittar) 2:00.80. 4x400 - 4. (Guittar, Hawkins, Newman, Jepson) 4:31.8.   

Men's Final Team Standings
1. St. Ambrose 173, 2. Loras 132, 3. Cornell 87, 4. Coe 59, 5. Mount Mercy 21.

Cornell results
55 hurdles - 3. James Wohrley 8.66, 4. Tony Galvez 8.67, 5. Dan Netwal 8.93. 55 dash - 10. Denis Jimenez 7.54. 200 dash - 7. Khaliph, Green 24.6, 11. Tony Galvez 25.5, 14. Benedict Beluchukwu 28.5. 400 dash - 2. Reed Skoog 53.4, 8. Mike Jeanmenne 54.7. 800 run - 1. Adam Rooyakkers 2:04.3. Mile - 3. Andrew Tobben, 4:36.18, 4. Quin Purkey 4:38.06, 7. Jordan Stacey 4:48.46, 8. Chris Stadler 4:53.03, 13. David Kuhlmann 5:02.32, 15. Andrew Jacobsmeyer 5:28.26. 3000 run - 3. Chase Nowak 9:12.7, 6. Kirkwood Donavin 9:19.9, 7. Ben Jacobs 9:24.4. Long jump - 5. Khaliph Green 18-06.00, 8. Denis Jimenez 17-05.25. High jump - 2. Dan Netwal 6-00.75. Pole Vault - 3. James Wohrley 10-11.75, 4. Marshall Kraker 9-05.75. Weight throw - 10. Chase Johnson 39-04. Shot put - 3. James Wohrley 42-00, 4. Marshall Kraker 41-10.75, 15. Denis Jimenez 31-05.25. 4x200 - 1. (Galvez, Nate Schueller, Green, Netwal) 1:40.87. 4x400 - 2. (Skoog, Jeanmenne, Schueller, Rooyakkers) 3:35.5.

Coming up - Saturday, Feb. 7, Hilltop Invitational, Small-Multi Sport Center Arena, Mount Vernon, 10 a.m.  

Hilltop Invitational Schedule
Saturday, Feb. 7
Small Multi-Sport Center Arena
Mount Vernon, Iowa

Field Events
10 a.m. - Pole vault (men), Weight throw (men), Long jump (women). 11 a.m. - Long jump (men), High Jump (women). 11:30 a.m. - Weight throw (women), Pole vault (women). 12 p.m. - High jump (men), Triple jump (women). 1 p.m. -Shot put (men), Triple jump (men). 2:30 p.m. - Shot put (women)

Track events
11 a.m. - Distance medley relay (women). 11:20 a.m. - Distance medley relay (men). 11:35 a.m. - 55 hurdles (women prelim). 11:45 a.m. - 55 hurdles (men prelim). 12 p.m. - 55 dash (women prelim). 12:15 p.m. - 55 dash (men prelim). 12:30 p.m. - Mile (women). 12:45 - Mile (men). 1 p.m. - 55 hurdles (men). 1:05 p.m. - 55 hurdles (women). 1:10 p.m. - 55 dash (women). 1:15 p.m. - 55 dash (men). 1:20 p.m. - 400 dash (women). 1:35 p.m. - 400 dash (men). 1:50 p.m. - 800 run (women). 2:00 p.m. - 800 run (men). 2:10 p.m. - 200 dash (women). 2:30 p.m. - 200 dash (men). 3:00 p.m. - 3000 run (women). 3:15 p.m. - 3000 run (men). 3:30 p.m. - 4x800 relay (women). 3:45 p.m. - 4x800 relay (men). 3:55 p.m. - 4x400 relay (women). 4:05 p.m. - 4x400 relay (men).