Vikings win first CCIW men's track & field title since 1984

CHICAGO, Illinois - The Vikings won their first College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin men's track & field championship since 1984 with a solid team performance on Saturday, May 3 in Chicago, Illinois.

Behind a pair of individual titles by Ted McMillan (Erie HS, Cordova, Ill.) as well as championships by Brad Holehan (Joliet Catholic HS, Shorewood, Ill.), Darin Decker (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.) and the 4x400 relay team of Evan Holschbach (Princeton HS, Princeton, Ill.), Kyle Ekberg (Rockford Christian HS, Rockford, Ill.), Matt Somers (Naperville Central HS, Naperville, Ill.) and McMillan, the Augustana men’s track & field team won its 15th CCIW championship, ending a 23-year run of conference titles by North Central. The Vikings finished with 240 points while North Central was second with 216.

In addition to anchoring the 1600 relay team which won in a time of 3:16.42, McMillan also won the 110 hurdles and the 400 hurdles with times of :15.22 and :53.79, respectively. He was also second in the high jump with a leap of 6’ 5½” and seventh in the 100 in :11.33. Holehan was the champion in the 3000 meter Steeplechase with a time of 9:16.08 and ran a 3:58.26 in the 1500 to take second place. Decker won the hammer throw with a mark of 167’ 3” and was third in the discus (141’ 9”) and fourth in the shot put (46’ 6¾”) as well.

Augustana had four of the top five finishers in the 110 hurdles with Tyler MacDonald (Batavia HS, Batavia, Ill.) finishing second behind McMillan with a time of :15.77. Mike Pettis (Assumption HS, Davenport, Iowa) took fourth in :16.33 and Jeff Scoma (Princeton HS, Princeton, Ill.) was fifth with a time of :16.46. MacDonald also took third in the 400 hurdles, running a :54.61 while teammate David Zeko (Somonauk HS, Sheridan, Ill.) was seventh at 1:02.72.

Josh Snodgrass (Erie  HS, Erie, Ill.) was second in the decathlon with 5,798 points and had the event’s best pole vault mark at 13’ 11¼”. Andy Kubiak (Bloomington HS, Bloomington, Ill.) was second behind Holehan in the steeplechase with a time of 9:21.69. Dan Leonard (Fremd HS, Palatine, Ill.) also earned a second place finish, running a 31:20.60 in the 10,000 while Chris Zook (Community HS, Normal, Ill.) was third in 31:34.50 and Dan Bailey (Deerfield HS, Deerfield, Ill.) took fifth at 32:01.60. Leonard, Bailey and Zook, along with teammate Matt Bowman (Geneva HS, Geneva, Ill.) took places four through seven in the 5000 with times of 15:04.94, 15:06.65, 15:07.62, and 15:09.39, respectively.

Holschbach, in addition to leading off the winning 1600 relay team, was third in the 200 in :22.09, fourth in the 100 in :11.21 and anchored the third-place 4x100 team, joining teammates Max Peterson (Mundelein HS, Mundelein, Ill.), Jay Watson (Oregon HS, Mt. Morris, Ill.), and Ekburg. They ran a :43.03.

Ryan Coleman (Lyons Township HS, LaGrange, Ill.) was third in the hammer throw at 154’ 3”. Justin Kossak (Somonauk HS, Somonauk, Ill.) took third in the high jump with a leap of 6’ 3 ½” while Alex Stake (Williamsville HS, Sherman, Ill.) was seventh at 5’ 9¾”.

Stake was also seventh in the long jump with a 21’ 1 ½” mark and took third in the decathlon, compiling 5,543 points and putting up the top high jump in the event at 6’ 2¼”. Nate Maass’ (Naperville Central HS, Naperville, Ill.) leap of 43’ 8½” in the triple jump was good for a third place finish as well.

Ekburg and Somers, members of the winning 1600 relay, were fourth and fifth in the 400, running :49.32 and :49.42, respectively, while teammate James Wood (St. Charles North HS, St. Charles, Ill.) was sixth in :50.18. Steve Sulfridge (Wheaton North HS, Wheaton, Ill.) took fourth in the pole vault with a 15’ 3¾” mark while Wes Jackson (Annawan HS, Mineral, Ill.) and John Thompson (Hall Township HS, Ladd, Ill.) were sixth and seventh with leaps of 14’ 10” and 14’ 4”, respectively.

Mike Lucchetti (Prairie Ridge HS, Crystal Lake, Ill.) earned a pair of fifth place finishes, running an :11.29 in the 100 and a :22.39 in the 200. Pat Hoefle (Lena-Winslow HS, Lena, Ill.) was also fifth with a 139’ 3” in the discus.

Jeff Lackaff (Downers Grove North HS, Downers Grove, Ill.), Tim Whisler (Maine West HS, Des Plaines, Ill.) and Matt Fulton (Hersey HS, Mt. Prospect, Ill.) all captured sixth place finishes. Lackaff threw 166’ 8” in the javelin, Whisler put the shot 44’ ½” and Fulton ran a 1:58.85 in the 800.

Jeremy Shaw (Vernon Hills HS, Vernon Hills, Ill.) amassed 4,742 points to take seventh in the decathlon and Jason Styzinski (Lincoln-Way Central HS, New Lenox, Ill.) leapt 21’ ¾” to finish eighth in the long jump.