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Wheaton College Athletics

Jonah Jones
Steve Woltmann
Jonah Jones won the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 5,000-meter run

Men's track & field takes second at CCIW Championships in an impressive effort

Jonah Jones is Track Athlete of the Meet; Scott Bradley & staff named Coaching Staff of the Year

5/8/2021 9:24:00 PM

Rock Island, Ill. - The Wheaton men's track & field team competed at the 2021 CCIW Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championship on Saturday. The Thunder program put together an impressive performance, taking second place, for Wheaton's highest finish at the CCIW Championships since 1959. Head coach Scott Bradley and the Thunder coaching staff were named the 2021 CCIW Coaching Staff of the Year for guiding the program to its excellent performance. Jonah Jones was named the CCIW Track Athlete of the Year for winning the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 5,000-meter run.

North Central finished first with 193 points, ahead of Wheaton's 171 points in second place. Carroll scored 109.5 points in third place, Augustana tallied 101.5 points in fourth place and Millikin placed fifth with 88 points. Carthage scored 70 points in sixth place, Illinois Wesleyan recorded 61 points in seventh place, Elmhurst finished eighth with 20 points and North Park finished ninth with two points.

Wheaton's Coaching Staff of the Year award came as the result of the Thunder leading the team score for the majority of the meet. Wheaton had a seven-point lead heading into the final event, the 10,000-meter run where North Central placed five runners in the top-8 to escape with its 40th conference title. Today's second-place performance was the highest finish for the Wheaton men's track & field program since it last won a CCIW Championship in 1959. Wheaton's strong performance today was led by six first place finishes: 110-meter high hurdles; 400-meter hurdles, 3000-meter steeplechase; 5,000-meter run; pole vault and 4X400-meter relay.

Eli OdellJones was impressive in winning two distance events today. He is the first Wheaton runner to win the Track Athlete of the Meet award since 2012 and just the seventh Wheaton men's track & field athlete to win a special award from the conference since the awards began in 1976. He opened the meet today with an impressive win in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, posting a time of 9:19.95 that is 12th-fastest in Division III this year. He capped the day with a first-place effort of 15:07.16 in the 5,000-meter run. Teammate Kevin Riley finished third in the steeplechase with a time of 9:31.10 and Riley posted a time of 15:23.10 to place fifth in the 5,000-meter run.

Ben JacksonEli Odell (PICTURED LEFT) won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 53.48-seconds that improved on his 10th-fastest time in Division III that he posted earlier this year. Teammate Isaiah Clausen finished third in 54.25-seconds and Jediah Giller was fourth in 57.05-seconds.

Junior Ben Jackson (PICTURED RIGHT) won the CCIW Championship in the 110-meter high hurdles in 14.92-seconds. Clausen finished fourth in the event with a time of 15.58-seconds and Giller was fifth in 15.66-seconds.

Wheaton had two strong relay performances today. The men's 4X400-meter relay finished first in 3:16.24 behind the effort of Odell, Peter Van Os, Max Veth and Andrew Lauber. The quartet posted the 10th-fastest time in Division III this season. The Wheaton 4X100-meter relay team of Van Os, Nico Bradley, Chris Albert and Jackson finished second with a school record time of 41.86-seconds. 

Ethan HarstedJunior Ethan Harsted (PICTURED LEFT) won the men's pole vault, leading a 1-2-3 finish in the event for Wheaton. Harsted had an effort of 4.50 meters (14' 9") to earn Wheaton's first CCIW Championship in the pole vault since 2014. Senior David Bradley reached a height of 4.40 meters (14' 5-1/4") in second place and his brother Peter Bradley was third with a height of 4.30 meters (14' 1-1/4").

Elijah NitzSophomore Elijah Nitz (PICTURED RIGHT) had a strong day in the throws. He placed third in the shot put with a heave of 14.64 meters (48' 1/2") and was fourth in the discus throw with a toss of 45.55 meters (149' 5"). Robert Smith placed second in the decathlon with 6,513 points. Smith placed eighth in the javelin throw with a toss of 152' 7". Don Crowder finished seventh in the high jump with an effort of 1.85 meters (6' 3/4"). 

Veth finished fourth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.26-seconds. Lauber placed sixth in the same event in 49.66-seconds and Albert finished in eighth with a time of 50.04-seconds. Nico Bradley placed fifth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.21-seconds. Albert placed fifth in the 200-meter dash in 22.41-seconds and Nico Bradley was seventh in 22.63-seconds.

Elliot Kim won the 800-meter run in 1:56.36 and John Logan placed seventh in 1:57.45. Junior Daniel Morken placed fourth in the 1,500-meter run in 4:01.80 and Logan was eighth with a time of 4:06.77. 
  
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