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June 1, 2000

2000 MEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK REVIEW

VIKINGS FINISH ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL SEASON RANKED 11TH IN NCAA POWER RANKINGS; DAVID DEMPSEY MATCHES HIS INDOOR ALL-AMERICAN PERFORMANCE WITH AN OUTDOOR CERTIFICATE

As long as Paul Olsen has been the track & field coach at Augustana College, and it has been since 1969, the Vikings have fielded balanced teams with few glaring weaknesses. That was the case once again as the Blue & Gold finished the 2000 season ranked 11th in the final NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Power Rankings. The power rankings compile the top two individuals, or relay, performances in each event and that produces a point total. The Vikings ended the season with 201.9 power ranking points while Wisconsin-LaCrosse won with 221.1.

Obviously, the performance of a successful team takes place on the track, not on the written page, and Olsen's crew certainly did their part. Junior shot putter David Dempsey (Sterling HS, Sterling, IL) became a NCAA Division III All-American for the second time this school year. The Augustana school record holder in the shot put - both indoors and outdoors - placed fifth in the national meet that was held on May 25-27 in Naperville, Illinois with a toss of 52' 11 1/2".

Dempsey was part of a contingent of four Augustana athletes who had qualified for the national meet. Senior David Voorhees (R.O.W.V.A. HS, Oneida, IL) finished 10th in the decathlon with 6,368 points. Freshman Tony Haid (Waubonsie Valley HS, Naperville, IL) was eighth in his heat of the 400 hurdles with a time of :54.41 and sophomore Anthony Bonucci (Princeton HS, Princeton, IL) finished 15th in the pole vault with a clearance of 14' 9".

The Vikings were tremendous from the very beginning of the season when they won the Early Spring Opener back on March 18th with 341 points over a seven team field that included NCAA Division II school Truman State University. Augustana also won its own 15 team Viking Olympics with 219 points, beating Wartburg and Luther - two teams that would finish eighth and 11th in the final power rankings. The Blue & Gold won the Midwest Championships at the end of the season with a whopping 204 points. The Vikings lost a dual meet to the number one team in the country, Wisconsin-LaCrosse by a score of 115-92 and placed third in the Meet of Champions.

In the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin, Olsen's bunch placed second to North Central for the 16th year in a row. North Central would later go on and win the NCAA Division III national championship. In the CCIW meet, Voorhees was Augustana's lone champion, winning the decathlon for the second year in a row.

Dempsey and Voorhees shared Most Valuable Field Event performer honors and Larry Gant (United Township HS, East Moline, IL) was named Most Valuable Track performer. Senior high jumper Craig Lyon (Kaneland HS, Sugar Grove, IL) was selected Most Inspirational performer after he battled back from a near-career ending foot injury from a year ago. Haid and Brad Blake (Kewanee Wethersfield HS, Kewanee, IL) shared the Most Valuable Freshman award and Joel Wiefeldt (Auburn HS, Auburn, IL) and Luke Cooley (R.O.W.V.A. HS, Oneida, IL) were co-winners of the Most Improved Athlete honor.

Dempsey, Nick Peck (Knoxville HS, Knoxville, IL), Brad Slupianek (Crystal Lake Central HS, Crystal Lake, IL) and Sean Tyson (Mount Carmel HS, Sauk Village, IL) were voted captains for 2001.

2000 COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF ILLINOIS & WISCONSIN MEN'S TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS

May 5-6, 2000

Kroehler Field

North Central College

Naperville, Illinois

TEAM SCORES: 1. North Central 241; 2. Augustana 142.5; 3. Carthage 94; 4. Elmhurst 83.5; 5. Illinois Wesleyan 76; 6. Millikin 60; 7. Wheaton 42; 8. North Park 40.

INDIVIDUAL CCIW CHAMPIONS

100 - Carl Alexander, Millikin :10.45

200 - Carl Alexander, Millikin :21.15

400 - Craig Hancock, North Park :48.02

800 - Tim McCoskey, North Central 1:51.99

1500 - Ed Reigert, North Central 3:54.91

5000 - Colin Young, North Central 15:08.70

10,000 - Jeremy Borling, North Central 32:10.36

110 High Hurdles - Dan Breems, North Park :14.95

400 Intermediate Hurdles - Zach Bukal, North Central :52.04

3000 Steeplechase - Charles Califf, North Central 9:34.18

400 Relay - North Central :41.85

1600 Relay - North Central 3:16.29

High Jump - Nelson Grant, Elmhurst 6' 7"

Pole Vault - Jason Tracy, North Central 15' 2 1/4"

Long Jump - Carl Alexander, Millikin 23' 9 1/2"

Triple Jump - Harold Gauthier, Illinois Wesleyan 47' 10"

Shot Put - Justin Rapp, North Central 54' 0 1/2"

Discus - Jason Dennis, Illinois Wesleyan 177' 11"

Hammer - Josh Ward, Millikin 145' 6"

Javelin - Micah Sheppard, Carthage 171' 0"

Decathlon - David Voorhees, Augustana 6,308

2000 NCAA DIVISION III MEN'S TRACK & FIELD POWER RANKINGS