DES MOINES – Nigel Talton (Fr.-Fort Valley, Ga.) became the first Iowa Wesleyan College sprinter in 11 years to win the Midwest Collegiate Conference championship in the men’s 100-meter dash, capping the final day of competition at the MCC Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Williams Stadium.
Talton won his signature event once again and became IWC’s first conference champion in any event since 2008, finishing in 10.77 seconds and setting a new meet record with his time. He is the first Tiger to win the men’s 100 meters at the MCC championships since Verity Rollins won back-to-back titles in 1998 and 1999, and is also the fifth IWC champion in the event in the 16-year history of the conference’s outdoor track championships.
Talton’s title combined with several other high placings allowed the Wesleyan men to finish sixth in the team standings with 35 points. St. Ambrose University won the men’s title, scoring 251 points to easily defeat Grand View University (202) and the rest of the field for its eighth MCC men’s outdoor title.
Along with winning the 100 meters, Talton just missed a title in the 200, finishing with a time of 22.17 to take second behind Gabriel Green of William Penn. He also was on Wesleyan’s second-place finishing 4 x 100 relay, joined by Xavier Shields (Fr.-St. Albans, N.Y.), Ridge Hobbs (Fr.-New London, Iowa) and Levor Henry (Jr.-St. Johns, Antigua).
A potentially even better day was tempered by several withdrawals from championship events. Shields did not run in the 100 or 200 finals despite qualifying for both on Thursday, and the freshman also missed out on competing in the 400 finals.
The IWC women had a quiet second day of the championships and finished seventh in the team standings with 19 points. St. Ambrose completed a sweep of the outdoor titles, scoring 209 1/2 points to edge Mount Mercy College (198) and Grand View (190 1/2).
The 4 x 100 relay team of Serina Reyna (So.-Selma, Calif.), Hannah Zaiser (Jr.-Burlington, Iowa), Danielle Des Jardins (Fr.-Peoria, Ill.) and Melanie McCreight (Jr.-Winfield, Iowa) posted the Tigers’ best finish on Friday, taking sixth with a time of 53.38. McCreight also added her fourth individual top-10 finish of the championships by finishing eighth in the 100 hurdles with a time of 17.63.
IWC has one more regular season meet on its schedule, the Culver-Stockton (Mo.) College Last Chance meet on Thursday in Canton, Mo. Though not a full team event, several Tiger athletes will get one final chance to qualify for the NAIA National Outdoor Championships, to be held May 27-29 in Marion, Ind.
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.
Women's Final Results
Men's Final Results
