DUBUQUE – Ridge Hobbs (Fr.-New London, Iowa) set a new school indoor record in the long jump and a three-man team for Iowa Wesleyan College performed very well at the University of Dubuque Spartan Invitational on Saturday.
The Tigers sent just three athletes to the men’s indoor meet but finished with 29 points, placing eighth of 13 teams on hand. IWC won a pair of events and scored points in all four events entered.
Hobbs led the way with a record-setting leap in the long jump. The freshman finished first in the long jump and jumped 22 feet, 5 inches, smashing the old school indoor record by 7 ½ inches. The previous record of 21-9 ½ was set by Junior Chukukere in 1989.
Wesleyan also once again dominated at the front of the 55-meter dash, as Xavier Shields (Fr.-St. Albans, N.Y.) and Nigel Talton (Fr.-Fort Valley, Ga.) again finished 1-2. Shields tied his best mark of the season, winning in 6.51 seconds, while Talton was behind in second in 6.55 seconds.
Shields also added a point for IWC by finishing eighth in the 200 with a time of 23.48. Talton was 20th in the 200 with a time of 23.98.
Shields and Talton will now wait on a possible trip to the NAIA Indoor National Championships to be held March 4-6 in Johnson City, Tenn. Both sprinters have met the national ‘B’ standard for qualification and will qualify for nationals depending on the number of runners who met the ‘A’ standard.
For more information regarding the IWC track programs or any of the Tiger athletic teams, contact sports information director Adam Glatczak (319-385-6306 phone; 319-385-6384 FAX; aglatczak@iwc.edu e-mail) or log on to IWC's athletics web site at www.iwc.edu/athletics.
Dubuque Spartan Invitational results
