Track Ready for Twilight Meet
         After solid showings at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships, the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville track teams host the SIUE Twilight Open this weekend in hopes of qualifying individuals for the NCAA Division II Championships to be held at SIUE on May 24-26.
         “This weekend is going to be a strong meet,” said Coach Darryl Frerker. “Some events will be very competitive with several Division I schools being represented.”
         The meet consists of individuals from the following schools – Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Eastern Illinois University, Bradley University, University of Illinois, University of Missouri-Rolla, Fontbonne College and Greenville College. The two-day meet starts Friday at noon with the heptathlon, followed by the decathlon at 12:30 p.m. The decathlon and heptathlon continue into Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., respectively. Field events begin at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday with running events scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
         “This weekend is more focused on individual competition rather than team. I look forward to good weather this weekend and hope to qualify someone for nationals.”
        
Seven Earn All-Conference Honors
         Seven individuals walked away with All-Great Lakes Valley Conference honors this past Saturday at Romeoville, Ill.
         The women’s team finished in fifth place with 43 points. Ruth Kipping (Quincy) and Kathleen Wilson (Carterville) were conference champions in their respective events. Kipping placed first in the 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes, 24.50 seconds. Wilson finished first in the javelin throw with a distance of 116 feet, 5 inches.
         “The ladies competed very well with two conference champions. Kathy Ostrander (Valparaiso, Ind.) scored in all four of her events.”
         Ostrander placed third in the discus throw (128’11”), fourth in the javelin (93’1”) and sixth in the hammer throw (113’1”) and shot put (32’9”).
         On the men’s side, the team scored 72 points to finish in fourth place. Five individuals finished All-GLVC. Three of those were conference champions.
         “I was pleased with our team placing. I look for us to be that much better next year because we are only graduating one guy.”
         William Wolfe (Carpentersville) was named Male Athlete of the Year in the GLVC. Wolfe was the conference champion in the decathlon and set a new conference record by scoring 5,974 points. George Murphy (Virden) also finished first by setting a conference record with a throw of 182’9” in the javelin.
         Marqus Hall (Hillsdale), Daniel Walden (Springfield) and Josh Benton (Carbondale) finished second in the triple jump, 800-meter run and high jump, respectively. Hall recorded a distance of 44’03.25”. Walden finished in a time of 1:56.28 while Benton reached 6’8” in the high jump.
         “Both teams had a lot of determination and competitiveness for the conference meet. They stepped up to the level of competition and did very well.”