May 26, 2012
Contact:
Steve Marovich, Sports Information Director (262) 551-5740
E-Mail: stevemarovich@tds.net or carthagesid@carthage.edu
Carthage Web Page: http://athletics.carthage.edu/index.aspx
Carthage 24-Hour Sports Hotline (262) 551-5388
Carthage's Trevor James (So., Maywood, Ill./Chicago-Hope Academy) won a national championship in the high jump and matched his school record of 6-10 ¼ on Friday, May 25, and Greg Raimondi (Sr., Harwood Heights, Ill./Norridge-Ridgewood) finished third in the hammer throw (Carthage-record 199-4). Both earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-America honors. James finished the event in a three-way tie with Nebraska Wesleyan University's Tommie Bardsley and Wartburg College's Jonas Elusme. All three competitors had two misses at 6-10 ¼ before clearing it, but James had no misses at the preceding heights, giving him the tiebreaker. James is the Red Men's fourth individual outdoor champion and the first since Dion Ballentine won the long jump in 2003. Derrik Guyette (Fr., Hortonville, Wis.) qualified in the shot put (seeded 19th at 53-10), which goes on Saturday, May 26 at 4:05 p.m., PDT.
Last Week: Carthage competed in two final qualifying meets on Thursday-Friday, May 17-18. The Lady Reds split squads between the May 17-18 North Central College "Final Qualifier" at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in Naperville, Ill., and the Augustana College (Ill.) "Twilight Qualifier" on May 18 at Ericson Field in Rock Island, Ill. No team scores were kept at either event.
2012 CCIW Outdoor Championship: Carthage (33-17
outdoor record) finished third at the Friday-Saturday, May 4-5
College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Outdoor Track and Field Championship
at Illinois Wesleyan University's Tucci Stadium in Bloomington, Ill. North
Central College won the eight-team championship with 107 points. Augustana
College (Ill.) was a distant second with a 53.50 total. This is the second
consecutive year that North Central has won the CCIW outdoor crown. The program
had a run of winning CCIW titles from 1985-2007, before Augustana broke the
string with titles in 2008 and 2010. North Central won in 2009. Carthage
finished in third place with a team total of 21.50 points. Wheaton College
(Ill.) finished in fourth with 17, followed by North Park University
fifth at 11, Elmhurst College sixth at 10 and Illinois Wesleyan
and Millikin University tied for seventh place with seven points each.
2012 CCIW Indoor Championship: Carthage (46-21-1 indoor record) finished third at the Friday-Saturday, Feb. 24-25 CCIW Indoor Track and Field Championship at North Central College's Al B. Carius Track in Naperville, Ill. The host-Cardinals won their 12th-consecutive indoor championship with 261 points, followed by Augustana College (Ill.) second at 169.50, Carthage third at 105, Illinois Wesleyan University fourth at 48.50, Wheaton College (Ill.) fifth at 34, Elmhurst College sixth at 20, Millikin University seventh at 14 and North Park University eighth with 11 points.
The Coach: Brett Witt is in his seventh season as head coach in 2012 (363-126-1 indoor record, 7 years/245-112-2 outdoor record, 7 years thru April 30)
The Outdoor Poll: McMurry University was ranked first in the May 9 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches of America NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field poll, followed by Wisconsin-La Crosse second, Wisconsin-Oshkosh third, CCIW-member North Central College fourth, Wisconsin-Whitewater fifth, Wisconsin-Eau Claire sixth, Wisconsin-Stout seventh, the University of La Verne eighth, Wabash College ninth and CCIW-member Augustana College (Ill.) ranked 10th. Wisconsin-La Crosse was ranked first in the May 9 USTFCCCA Midwest Regional poll, followed by Wisconsin-Oshkosh second, CCIW-member North Central College third, Wisconsin-Whitewater third, Wisconsin-Eau Claire fifth, conference-member Augustana (Ill.) sixth, Wisconsin-Stout seventh, Wisconsin-Stevens Point eighth, Wisconsin-River Falls ninth and Wisconsin-Platteville ranked 10th.
The Indoor Poll: Wisconsin-La Crosse was ranked first in the final, regular-season U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches of America NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field poll, followed by CCIW-member North Central College second, Wisconsin-Oshkosh third, McMurry University fourth, Wisconsin-Eau Claire fifth, the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) sixth, Wisconsin-Stout seventh, Wisconsin-Whitewater eighth, Amherst College ninth and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ranked 10th. Wisconsin-La Crosse was ranked first in the final, regular-season USTFCCA Midwest Region poll, followed by CCIW-member North Central (Ill.) second, Wisconsin-Oshkosh third, Wisconsin-Whitewater fourth, Wisconsin-Eau Claire fifth, Wisconsin-Stevens Point sixth, Wisconsin-Platteville seventh, Wisconsin-Stout eighth, Wisconsin-River Falls ninth, and CCIW-member Augustana College (Ill.) ranked 10th.
New Qualification System for the 2012 NCAA Track and Field Championships: Beginning with the 2012 indoor season, the NCAA is changing its long-standing method of selecting participants to the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championship and the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championship. Instead of using both automatic and provisional qualification standards, both championships will use its national rankings in each individual event to select automatic qualifiers. For the 2012 indoor championship, the top-13 men in each event and the top-10 relay teams will qualify, with the top-20 men and the top-16 relays qualifying for the outdoor championship.
2011 NCAA Outdoor Championship: Carthage (37-15-1 outdoor record) had three individual qualifiers for the 2011 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championship at Ohio Wesleyan University’s Selby Field and George Gauthier Track in Delaware, Ohio. Jarrayl Johnson (Sr., Flossmoor, Ill./South Holland-Thornwood) earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-America honors with a sixth-place finish in the shot put (55-9 1/4) and broke a 1977 school record of 55-0 set Bill Versen. Josh Brennan (graduated-senior, Geneva, Ill.) finished 11th in the hammer throw (185-10) and Greg Raimondi (Sr., Harwood Heights, Ill./Norwood-Ridgewood) 16th in the hammer throw (176-6). Carthage tied for 57th place in the championship.
The Conference: The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, in its 66th year in 2011-12, has sponsored outdoor men's track and field as a championship sport since the conference began athletic competition in the 1946-47 school year. The CCIW has sponsored outdoor men's track and field as a championship sport since the conference began athletic competition in the 1946-47 school year. The CCIW has sponsored outdoor men's track and field as a championship sport since the conference began athletic competition in the 1946-47 school year. North Central (Ill.) has won a league-leading 33 championships, including five-straight from 1975 to 1979, 23-consecutive from 1985 to 2007, as well as the 2009 and 2011 titles. Augustana (Ill.) has won 16 times, winning nine-of-11 times between 1964 and 1974 and five-straight from 1980 to 1984. Wheaton (Ill.) has won 12 titles. The Thunder dominated the conference in track and field in the early years, winning 12-of-13 titles from 1947 to 1959. Carthage has never won a CCIW Outdoor Men’s Track and Field Championship. Coach Ron Zalokar’s 1967 and 1968 teams finished second, and his 1969 team tied for second. Coach Jay Flanagan’s 1973 squad also finished second, as did coach Steve Ray’s 2001 team. The Red Men have finished third 11 times, most recently in 2009. North Central (Ill.) won the league's inaugural indoor track and field championship in 2001 and has repeated every year since then for a total of 12 titles.
CCIW Athletes of the Week: Elmhurst College's Jake Austin (Jr., Yorkville, Ill.) North Central College's Peter Geraghty (Jr., Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest) were named CCIW “Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week” on May 1, Austin for the second time this season. Austin, who also earned "athlete of the week" honors on April 17, clocked a time of 9:13.95 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the April 27 2012 Hillsdale College “GINA” Relays. His time currently ranks 12th in the nation and first in the CCIW. Geraghty won the pole vault (17-0 ¾) at the April 28 Benedictine University (Ill.) "Twilight Invitational." Geraghty is ranked him second in both the CCIW and in the nation, and it was only his second meet of the season after missing the entire 2012 indoor campaign with an injury.
2012 CCIW Indoor Championship Notes: Carthage’s Greg Raimondi (Sr., Harwood Heights, Ill./Norridge-Ridgewood), who was named the meet’s “most valuable field athlete,” won the weight throw (60-4 ½) and finished second in the shot put (51-11 ¾). Cale Brown (So., Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) won the triple jump (46-4 ¾) and finished second in the long jump (22-6 ¼). Eric Schmidt (Jr., Kewaunee, Wis.) was third in the weight throw (59-9 ½), as was Marshall Stewart (Sr., Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) in the 400-meter dash (49.28), Jason Lobojko (So., Wood Dale, Ill./Bensenville-Fenton) in the 60-meter dash (7.06) and Derrik Guyette (Fr., Hortonville, Wis.) in the shot put (50-7 1.4). Aryan Avant (So., Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) was fourth in the 200-meter dash (22.37) and fifth in the 400-meter run (49.74). Neil Messina (Fr., West Allis, Wis./Nathan Hale) was fifth in the long jump (22-1), as was Andrew Olinger (Sr., Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) in the triple jump (42-7).
2012 CCIW Outdoor Championship Notes: Carthage's Greg Raimondi (Sr., Harwood Heights, Ill./Norridge-Ridgewood) was named the "field athlete of the meet" by winning won three events, taking first place in the hammer throw (190-7), the shot put (53-1 1/2) and the discus (160-5). Trevor James (So., Maywood, Ill./Chicago-Hope Academy) won the high jump (Carthage-record 6-10 1/4). Derrik Guyette (Fr., Hortonville, Wis.) finished second in the shot put (52-5 1/2) and Andrew Olinger (Sr., Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) third in the triple jump (44-11).
May 17-18 North Central (Ill.) “Final Qualifier" and Augustana (Ill.) "Twilight Qualifier” Notes: Carthage's Trevor James (So., Maywood, Ill./Chicago-Hope Academy) was second in the high jump (6-9) at North Central (Ill.) and Branden Miller (Fr., Winfield, Ill./Wheaton-North) sixth in the shot put (44-6 ¼). At Augustana (Ill.), Greg Raimondi (Sr., Harwood Heights, Ill./Norridge-Ridgewood) was second in the shot put (53-0) and sixth in the discus (155-10).