TRACK TEAMS STUCK IN A RUT…AND THAT’S GOOD

A consistent approach over 25 seasons has given track coach Roger Haynes unparalleled success in the Midwest Conference. When the 2009 indoor season opens this weekend, the only changes will be in the names of the next generation of Fighting Scots standouts.

Monmouth’s men are riding a string of nine straight indoor league titles and eight consecutive outdoor crowns. No other men’s team has won more titles than the Scots during Haynes’ tenure.

The Scots’ women have an equally impressive résumé. They have won the last seven indoor titles and eight of the last nine outdoor championships.

Lost to graduation is a talented group of field event specialists: pole vaulters Jonny Henkins and Peter Sprecher claimed three national titles between them; thrower Zach Wilson, a seven-time conference champion; another pole vaulter – Jessica White won five MWC titles; and four-time league winner in throws, Jenny Babos. In order to repeat as conference champs, the Scots will have to rely on some newcomers as well as the veterans.

“I feel in some regards the field events are actually a little easier to fill in,” said Haynes. “You can get stronger in the field events by virtue of the kids becoming veterans in another event. For instance, you could replace the missing points in the pole vault with points in the shot. It’s a bit easier to estimate the performances in the field events.”

Among the throwers, sophomores Sam Cokinos (St. Charles, Ill./East) and Peyton Lumzy (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) return to form a young but talented base. The pair finished second and third outdoors in the shot put last season to Wilson – with Cokinos just a quarter inch behind the winner. Freshman Nick Hitterman (La Grange, Ill./Lyons Township) is expected to be a new threat in the throws. Defending MWC javelin champion Dan Higgins (Oak Lawn, Ill./Oak Lawn) has one more season to close in on Haynes’ 26-year old javelin record. The senior threw a career-best 194’10” – a little more than 10’ from the record mark – to win last year’s league crown.

Women’s throwers Tanesha Hughes (Peoria, Ill./Woodruff), a senior, and sophomores Gloria Lehr (Knoxville, Ill./Knoxville), Allison Renfroe (Rockford, Ill./Boylan) and Maureen Dewan (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) have the veteran depth to nurture newcomer Amanda Streeter (Port Byron, Ill./Riverdale). Hughes, who came on strong last spring, and Lehr are returning MWC champs in the outdoor hammer throw and indoor shot put, respectively. Hughes and sophomore 400- and 800- runner Lindsie Pettie (Sherrard, Ill./Sherrard) are expected to be contributors after they wrap up their basketball season. Dewan is expected to move up following a solid freshman year.

“Maureen would have been a scorer for us last year if we weren’t so deep,” praised Haynes. “Babos graduated, so we expect Maureen to move up and become a scorer this season.”

A trio of sophomore women will provide plenty of firepower in the jumps. Defending indoor and outdoor triple jump champion Morgan Leffel (Viola, Ill./Sherrard) burst onto the scene last season along with Jae Moore (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame) and Whitney Didier (Dixon, Ill./Dixon). Moore and Leffel had scoring times last season in the sprints and will add versatility to the lineup. Didier will also compete in the pole vault and intermediate hurdles.

Speaking of versatility, senior Megan McKenna (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection) may be the poster child for multi-event athletes. McKenna holds conference titles in the pole vault, triple jump and long jump and strengthens an already solid group of jumpers.

More sophomores bolster the men’s jumps. Nick Law (Heyworth, Ill./Heyworth) and Michael Blodgett (Appleton, Wis./North) form the veteran base of the jumps corps to go with incoming freshman Matt Hassler (Ladd, Ill./Spring Valley-Hall). Hassler brings solid credentials in the high jump as last year’s IHSA Class A state champion, clearing 6’7”, and should have an immediate impact. Add sophomore pole vaulter Brock McAnally (Crystal Lake, Ill./South), who trained behind two national champions a year ago, and the Scots may not be hurting in the field events after all.

“We have good numbers and good quality in the field events,” reported Haynes. “It’s always a matter of how they rank in the conference scoring-wise. We feel like we’ll be OK.”

The Scots won’t lose any ground on the track, where Haynes expects the success of the cross country season to carry over to the distance events. While sophomore Mary Kate Beyer (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) and junior Katie Staab (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) have no conference track titles to their credit, they will headline a strong women’s distance field that ran to Monmouth’s first conference cross country title last fall.

“Taryn Tang (East Moline, Ill./United Township) is out for her first year of track and had a successful cross country season,” reported Haynes of the junior rookie. “We feel like she’ll be able to contribute on the track, too. (Juniors) Amy Aghababian (St. Charles, Ill./Central) and Brianna Flynn (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley) should be able to help as well.”

The men return junior multiple conference champion Clay Staley (Hanna City, Ill./Illini Bluffs), senior defending 800-meter winner Damon Bautista (Silvis, Ill./United Township) and sophomore Scott Scheller (Morton, Ill./Morton), who claimed his first cross country all-conference honor last fall. Staley picked up individual conference titles last year in the steeplechase, 3,000-meters and the mile.

“We feel we have some talented runners who will set high goals,” said Haynes who also points to a freshman and sophomore to add more scoring punch. “Jon Welty (Dixon, Ill./Newman Central Catholic) should run well and Tim Bentz (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) placed well in the outdoor 800 last year. We feel like we have a number of men and women who will do well.”

Haynes also has a deep stable when it comes to the sprint events with no fewer than five conference champions – not including relays – returning.

Senior six-time All-American Luke Reschke (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo) leads the pack when it comes to the men’s sprinters. Add in classmates Aaron Daverin (Herscher, Ill./Herscher) and Jake Stott (Morris, Ill./Coal City) with sophomore hurdler/sprinter Logan Hohl (Orion, Ill./Orion), and the Scots have the makings of a formidable sprint team. Reschke, Daverin and Stott return as conference champs in the 4x400 relay and Hohl took top honors indoors in the 55-meter hurdles.

Sophomores Saidu Seesay (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South), Kyle Prout (Chillicothe, Ill./IVC) and Jared Cernansky (Sparta, Ill./Sparta) add even more speed and options for the relays. Seesay teamed with Staley, Bentz and the graduated Seth Leitner to bring home first place hardware in last season’s distance medley relay.

“We feel like Seesay, Prout and Cernansky will give us improved performances this season,” projected Haynes.

Senior Shannon Turczyn (Peru, Ill./LaSalle-Peru) – a sprint hurdle specialist – and classmate Katey Vaccarello (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine Township) give the Scots experience in the women’s sprints. A freshman – All-Stater Brittany Lowdermilk (Princeton, Ill./Princeton) – will be counted on to add to the already strong sprint corps.

“I feel like we have versatile sprint groups that can cover a lot of events,” said Haynes. “This holds true for both the men and the women.”

Haynes has a nice compliment of women’s hurdlers lead by Turczyn who will be going for a clean sweep in the MWC sprint hurdles. In her first three years, no one has crossed the finish line ahead of her at the conference level. She’s joined in the hurdle events by sophomore Heather Hull (Cambridge, Ill./Cambridge). Vaccarello and Didier will compete in the intermediates.

While Haynes is set with the women’s hurdles, it’s not so plentiful on the men’s side where Hohl is the lone competitor – for now. Haynes projects developing more men’s hurdlers as the season progresses.

Freshman Kaci Leirman (Georgetown, Ill./Georgetown-Ridge Farm) is being touted as one to watch in the women’s sprints and high jump as is fellow freshman Shane Reschke (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo) in the men’s long jump and sprints. Another newcomer, 400- and 800- man Logan Weir (Monmouth, Ill./Monmouth-Roseville), adds even more depth, making the Scots a serious threat again this season.

“It’s difficult to pick a conference winner at this point,” said Haynes of the projected league finish. “You just really don’t know exactly who the other teams have picked up and how they’ll perform. One or two people could have a big impact. We’re not looking that far ahead right now. We’re just focusing on the individual improvement of our group.”

That’s the philosophy Haynes has used for the last 25 years and it’s served him well – to the tune of 48 Midwest Conference team titles.

NOT JUST TREADING WATER

The swim team showed few signs of taking more than a month off with a dual meet sweep of Lindenwood University last weekend. The men defeated Lindenwood 125-44 and the women picked up a 109-35 win.

The scores may be a bit deceiving. Lindenwood was missing a good portion of their team due to class scheduling, but Dave Yez was looking at his team’s performance and not the final score.

“I think we swam fairly well,” reported Yez. “We had been doing double sets since the second of January.”

Those double sets meant the Scots swam their full workout twice each day – one in the morning and one in late afternoon. In addition to the rigorous schedule, Yez put his squad through a five thousand yard workout the morning of the meet.

The team was admittedly “swimming tired” for their dual meet with the Lions. Still, the Scots swam four personal-bests and two relays had honor roll times.

Rachel Buckham led a solid women’s team, winning all three of her events. The freshman swam a personal-best to win the 200-yard backstroke (2:24.59).

“Rachel’s 200- backstroke time places her third in the conference standings,” reported Yez. “Her time was a bit of a surprise in that she had no competition to push her. It will be interesting to see what time she can post when we begin our tapering and gear up for the conference meet.”

Buckham also touched first in the 1,650 freestyle (21:03.58) and teamed with Lauren Nelson, Jamie Schingoethe and Jessica Lindley to win the 400- freestyle relay (4:08.12).

Another freshman – Rachel Holm – equaled Buckham’s performance with three firsts. She began the meet by teaming with Kendra Kuehl, Krysta Sparks and Colleen Zumpf to win the 400- medley relay (4:36.46). The foursome swam the second-best time of the season in the event. Holm then edged Schingoethe to take first in the 50- freestyle (27.37) and won the 200- butterfly (2:31.24).

Kuehl swam a personal-best in the 400- individual medley to place first (5:18.38) and Schingoethe added a first in the 100- freestyle (59.89). Sparks touched first in the 200- breaststroke (2:41.00).

On the men’s side, freshman Andrew Wright began 2009 with a pair of firsts. Wright swam a personal-best to win the 100- freestyle (51.25). He also touched first in the 200- freestyle (1:52.19).

Ed Novak picked up a pair of firsts, out-touching Lindenwood’s Michael Keller to win the 500- freestyle (5:22.40) and placing first in the 1,650- freestyle (19:20.40).

Junior Harrison Heilman took top honors in the 400- individual medley (4:41.03) and swam a personal-best to place second in the 200- backstroke (2:10.33).

Josh Dunn, Kevin Satler, John Kaiser and Steve Collins opened the men’s portion of the meet with a win in the 400- medley relay (3:52.25). Like the women, the men swam the season’s second-best time in the event. Collins, Novak, Dunn and Stephen Whittle ended the meet with a first-place finish in the 400- freestyle relay (3:34.24).

“We weren’t quite as good as we were at DePauw,” said Yez in comparing the performance to their last meet before the long layoff. “We simply weren’t in the taper mode to get our peak performances. Our times were probably comparable to our times a week prior to the DePauw meet. I was very pleased with the men’s and women’s times considering how hard they worked and how tired everyone was.”

It looks like the Scot intense workouts – they logged 43 miles in seven days – paid dividends in their first meet of the New Year. Let’s put that in perspective. That’s like swimming the English Channel – twice.

After logging so many miles in the last two weeks, the team decided to blow off a little pre-semester steam and put on a talent show Monday night. While the Scoop isn’t a great judge of talent in the caliber of Simon, Paula and Randy, let’s just say we’re glad singing and synchronized swimming isn’t in the Scots’ future plans.

PAIR SWEEP MWC HONORS

A pair of freshmen swimmers hauled in the team’s first Midwest Conference Performer of the Week honors for the season.

Rachel Buckham (Sturgeon Bay, Wis./Sturgeon Bay) and Andrew Wright (Quincy, Ill./Quincy) combined to win five events and swim two personal bests as the Fighting Scots sank Lindenwood in last weekend’s dual meet. In Monmouth’s first meet since Dec. 6, the men defeated the Lions 125-44 and the women posted a 109-35 victory.

WHEN A WIN IS A WIN

 Yes, Virginia, there WAS a shot clock.

Fans wouldn’t have known it from the score, but the shot clock really was in effect during the Scots’ 52-46 men’s win over Knox Tuesday night. Both teams shot less than 30 percent from the floor and less than 70 percent from the foul line in what was the lowest combined scoring game since Monmouth defeated William Penn 56-42 on Feb. 3, 1976.

For us old-timers, 1976 doesn’t seem that long ago, but… The last time two teams combined for fewer than 98 points Gerald Ford was in the White House; the Cubs’ World Series drought wasn’t even close to 100 years; and the Boston Celtics were wearing shorts above the thigh.

It was the Scots’ lowest total for a win since a 51-49 win over Lawrence in 1980. But, hey, a win is a win.

“This is the third game I’ve coached against Knox and all three were similar,” said Mark Vershaw who is 3-0 against the rivals to the east. “Those games are always intense, physical, low-scoring affairs.”

Low-scoring? Yes, see paragraphs two through four.

Intense? Yes. The outside temp hovered around zero, but the fans were sweating.

Physical? Yes, but there were only 39 fouls called in the game. That’s only three more than the average for the season.

We’re crediting the intense defensive play by both teams for the poor shooting percentages in this 200^th meeting of Monmouth and Knox. The Scots hold a 116-84 advantage in the series, but it wasn’t easy.

“We had hoped to put some points up early,” reported Vershaw. “That plan didn’t work out. We missed easy shots, rhythm shots. We just couldn’t find the bottom of the net. It wasn’t just one guy, either.”

The good news is the Scots pieced together enough offense to find a way to erase a 23-19 halftime deficit and escape with the win. Eric Cogdill hit four consecutive shots early in the second half to post the Scots to a 32-28 lead and except for a 33-33 tie at the 13:33 mark, Monmouth led the rest of the way.

“He has talked about putting together two good halves,” said Vershaw of Cogdill’s tale of two halves. “It takes him a while to find his rhythm offensively. I think a majority of it has to do with him going to the basket.”

The Scots also got a second half lift from freshman David Milroy. He didn’t put up eye-popping stats, but much like Kyle Weyeneth last season, did the little things that made the difference.

“David’s minutes in the second half provided us with a spark,” praised Vershaw of Milroy’s seven points and five rebounds in 15 minutes of playing time. “That gave us the chance to win the game.” 

In a game that didn’t have much polish, the Scots were able to find some gems in the gym.

“Fletcher Morgan came off the bench and gave us some good minutes,” said Vershaw. “Corey Gruber’s defense on (Ben) Wetherbee was outstanding. He (Wetherbee) only got two open looks all night. For a player of that offensive caliber, I thought Gruber did a really nice job on him.”

The Fire’s leading scorer was held to seven points, about half his average, making just two of 11 shots.

“This was one of the most consistent defensive performances we’ve had,” praised Vershaw. “We didn’t have many breakdowns. Offensively, we’re going to have to generate more points.”

That may never be as true as this weekend when the Scots host Lawrence and Carroll. The two teams are a combined 7-1 in MWC play. Unbeaten in conference play, Carroll, St. Norbert and Grinnell top the league standings while Lawrence rounds out the top four at 3-1. The Scots, with one MWC win, sits tied for fifth with four other teams. Knox is in the basement at 0-5 in league play.

“In order for us to win and get in position in the conference race, we can’t have the offensive lulls,” claimed Vershaw. “Carroll and Lawrence are too good to have scoring droughts against and expect to win. We’ll have to do things right. If we want to be in the conference race, we’ll have to win at home.”

It won’t be easy. Lawrence has been a consistent Midwest Conference power since at least 2003 and Carroll averages nearly 90 points per game.

“Lawrence plays the game the right way,” said Vershaw. “If you don’t get back on defense, if you don’t hit your free throws, if you don’t do the little things right, they’ll make you pay for it. Carroll has a very good 1-2 guard punch. It will be interesting to see how we respond.”

While Vershaw doesn’t plan to implement the Grinnell “System,” he does plan to put a few more points on the board. That combined with Tuesday’s defensive effort may go a long way in determining this weekend’s outcome.

DOMINANT DOMAIN

With Tuesday night’s 71-39 win over Knox, the women’s basketball team has now won 13 straight against the Galesburg school and 22 of the last 23.

Only a 60-58 loss to the Prairie Fire in the last game of the 2001-02 season interrupted what would have been an amazing 23 game streak. That loss came during current coach Melissa Bittner’s junior season when she averaged a team-high 15.1 points per game. Perhaps that’s why Bittner was so enthused by her team holding Knox to their lowest point total in the series since the 1999-2000 season – Bittner’s freshman year. Or it could be the fact that everything that had been going wrong in the last two losses suddenly turned around.

“It was a great team win,” praised Bittner. “We had lots of players contribute. It’s great to get back on the winning track in conference play.”

Great too, was the play of the Scots’ two seniors. Tanesha Hughes recorded her sixth double-double of the season, pouring in 20 points to go with 11 rebounds and Melissa Gorksi added 10 points to pull her within five points of becoming the sixth-leading scorer in Fighting Scots’ history. A sophomore – Alison Andrews – chipped in 14 points and added two more blocked shots to her team-high 15.  

While the offense was clicking – scoring above their season average – the defense was on fire, too – pun intended. Monmouth’s defense held the Prairie Fire to more than 20 points below their average.

So what gives? Did Bittner come up with a master defensive game plan? Yes – well, sort of.

“At halftime I threatened to make them run for every point over 45 that Knox scored,” laughed Bittner. “I was not happy with our defense in the previous two games. We played good defense in the first half of those two games, but let up in the second half. I felt like this game, we controlled the entire game.”

The Scots scored the game’s first four points and got up by eight, 14-6, at the 13:04 mark. From that point forward, Knox was only able to get within four points once.

“We were never at the point where we felt tight or uncomfortable,” reported Bittner. “Knox got it to 17-13 and Lynsey Barnard came down and drained a three to put us back up by seven. Knox really didn’t have an answer for Tanesha, she was very solid down low and finished well.”

Like all coaches, Bittner could still find a dark cloud outside the silver lining.

“We still gave up too many second chance rebounds,” lamented Bittner. “They had 15 offensive rebounds which is way too many and they had too many defensive boards.

Meanwhile, back at the happy ranch…

“It was a solid team performance,” said Bittner. “Tanesha and Melissa acted like seniors and gave us plenty of leadership. We also got good play off the bench from Kim Howard, Erica Puig and Kelly Sheets. They came off the bench and gave us some offense and solid defense. We had challenged the bench to step up and they responded.”

Bittner has to feel pretty good heading into the weekend after a dominant performance at Knox, right?

“We’re one and four in the conference, so we can’t feel too good,” said Bittner whose team will face winless Lawrence on Friday and upper tier Carroll Saturday. “A sweep this weekend would make me feel a bit better, but we’re not taking anything for granted. We’re not going to overlook Lawrence. We’ve got to take care of business with them before we begin to even think about Carroll.”

Past history would back Bittner’s plan to remain focused on each individual game. Lawrence owns a 15-6 advantage in the series, although the Scots won last year’s two meeting – one in overtime. Carroll has owned the Scots since the Pioneers joined the league, posting a 15-5 mark against Monmouth.

“We need to play at our level,” said Bittner. “We’ve circled Carroll as a key. We only play them once this year and we get them at home. They’re a playoff caliber team and we’ve got to beat that type of team if we want to challenge for the conference title. This weekend could be the turning point to our season. If we sweep the weekend it could get us going on a run, but we have to take care of Lawrence first.”

THE WEEK AHEAD

Fri., Jan. 16
Women’s Basketball – hosts Lawrence, 5:00 pm
Men’s Basketball – hosts Lawrence, 7:00 pm

Sat., Jan. 17
Track – at Knox Pentangular, 10:00 am
Swimming – at Rose-Hulman, 2:00 pm
Women’s Basketball – hosts Carroll, 2:00 pm
Men’s Basketball – hosts Carroll, 4:00 pm 

SCOTSIVATIONAL

“The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person's determination.” - Tommy Lasorda