The NCAA News - News and Features

May 18, 1998

Division III Men's Outdoor Track

North Central seeks to dethrone defending champion Wisconsin-La Crosse

Event: 1998 Division III Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Overview: Wisconsin-La Crosse, Lincoln (Pennsylvania) and North Central have dominated the championships, combining to win the past 10 titles. Wisconsin-La Crosse is the defending champion. Of the three teams, North Central has experienced the longest drought, last winning in 1994. Based on performances through May 5, however, North Central is the team to beat with its 10 automatic qualifiers, including David Thompson (100- and 200-meter dashes), Tony Rizzo (800-meter run), Jeff Stiles (1,500- and 5,000-meter runs), Ryan Board (1,500- and 5,000-meter runs), Matt Brill (10,000-meter run) and Stephen Draminski (shot put). Thompson registered the top qualifying time in the 200, while Brill had the top time in the 10,000 .... North Central's toughest obstacle may be the Raiders of Mount Union, who placed third in 1997 and could easily make the jump to the top position. The Raiders boast a lineup led by defending 5,000- and 10,000-meter champion Dave Cooper; two-time defending long-jump champion Shawn Watson; Eugene Kornilov, who has posted the top qualifying mark in the 1,500-meter run; Doug Brown (5,000-meter run); and Jeff Geiss (3,000-meter steeplechase) .... Lincoln (Pennsylvania), runner-up in 1997 and 1998 indoor track champion, seeks its third title in four years. The Lions' strength is in the sprints and field events, where Robert Woolbright and Steve Mitchell have posted the top two times, respectively, in the 400-meter dash as of May 5. Alonzo Wiggins has recorded the best time in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles, and Thomas Thompson sports the second-best qualifying mark in the high jump .... Wisconsin-La Crosse, which has won four of the past seven championships, places its hopes of retaining the crown behind Brett Altergott, the defending 3,000-meter steeplechase champion and No. 3-ranked 1,500-meter run qualifier, Brad Wilson (3,000-meter steeplechase) and Mike Seifert (hammer throw).

Field: The Division III Championships Committee has approved a qualifying procedure that allows for a maximum of 344 student-athletes.

Dates and site: May 21-23 at Macalester College.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 1425 for dates/site/schedule, 5299 for qualifiers, 5300 for first-day results, 5301 for second-day results, 5302 for third-day results and 5304 for finals results only. Championship results also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Results will be published in the June 1 issue of The NCAA News.