MOUNT PLEASANT – Nigel Talton (Fr.-Fort Valley, Ga.) has been named the Midwest Collegiate Conference Men’s Track Athlete of the Week after a terrific performance at the Grinnell College Dick Young Classic this past weekend.
Talton was a winner in three sprinting events, including claiming a pair of individual titles at the Dick Young Classic. He won the 100- and 200-meter dashes and also ran on IWC’s winning 4 x 100 relay team in taking weekly MCC honors for the first time in his career.
Talton won the 100 meters in 10.76 seconds, his second-fastest time of the season and just off his school record of 10.73 set last week. His mark also was under the NAIA ‘B’ qualifying standard for the upcoming NAIA Outdoor National Championships. He also was victorious in the 200 meters with a time of 22.05, missing provisional qualification for the national championships by less than one tenth of a second.
The freshman also joined Xavier Shields (Fr.-St. Albans, N.Y.), Ridge Hobbs (Fr.-New London, Iowa) and Levor Henry (Sr.-St. Johns, Antigua) in winning the 4 x 100 relay with a time of 42.42, a mark good for second all-time on IWC’s all-time records list. That 4 x 100 relay time also met the NAIA ‘B’ qualifying standard for the national championships.
Talton is enjoying one of the best seasons by a sprinter in Iowa Wesleyan history, having made his mark near the top of the all-time performance lists in a number of sprinting events. He set a school record in the 100 last week and was part of the relay that is second all-time at IWC, and he is also currently third all-time on the 200 meter list.
Talton and several other members of the Wesleyan track & field teams will next be competing at the Drake Relays this week in Des Moines.
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.
