CCIW women's track & field athletes post early national marks as indoor season opens
National qualifying marks and early conference leaders are emerging in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) during the opening month of the women’s indoor track and field season.
Illinois Wesleyan’s Imani Ogunribido has set the national standard in the triple jump. The junior opened her season on December 5 at the Titan First Chance Meet by resetting her program record with a jump of 12.53 meters, which is currently the top mark in NCAA Division III. She secured another victory last Saturday at the Coach Shoe Invitational with a leap of 12.06 meters.
Elmhurst athletes have also made notable performances in the triple jump. Chloe Selmer recorded a season-best 11.66 meters to rank fifth nationally, while teammate Paulina Tinajero posted 11.42 meters, standing ninth. Carroll’s Katelyn Duber reached 11.01 meters last Saturday at the Beloit Opener, placing her among Division III’s top 20.
In long jump, Tinajero leads the conference after clearing 5.82 meters at UW-Oshkosh Early Bird, ranking third nationally.
Several CCIW sprinters have achieved nationally-ranked results this season. North Park’s Riana Hayes ran 7.71 seconds in the 60 meters at the Blue Demon Holiday Invite, ranking 14th nationally. Hayes was runner-up at the Pat Heenan Invite (7.83) and placed third in the 200 meters (26.37).
Tiana Grady from Elmhurst holds the best conference time for 200 meters with a result of 25.34 seconds, placing her 16th nationwide; she also won last weekend’s Coach Shoe Invitational 60-meter dash in 7.83 seconds.
Carmela Woods from Elmhurst leads in the 400 meters after posting a time of 57.12 seconds on December 5, ranking eighth nationally. Carthage's Syvonna Perry ran a time of 7.88 seconds in the 60 meters at Forever Red Alumni Classic, while Augustana freshman Bridget Hecker claimed first place in the Bumble Rumble's 200-meter event with a time of 26.53 seconds.
Carthage throwers have delivered strong showings as well; Madison Payne threw shot put for a distance of 13.50 meters on December 6, which ranks third nationally, and led weight throw performances last Saturday with a mark of 15.58 meters (12th nationally). Lillian Townsend contributed with a shot put result of 12.82 meters, ranking second in conference and sixteenth nationally.
Other highlights include Augustana’s Charlotte Frere achieving a weight throw mark of 14.25 meters and North Central freshman Yakyra Wilder winning both shot put (11.63m) and weight throw (14.57m) at their home meet earlier this month.
In pole vaulting events, North Park’s Julia Klein cleared a personal-best height of 3.67 meters last Saturday to secure tenth place nationwide; North Central's Gwen Berenyi closely followed with a clearance of 3.65 meters for twelfth place nationally.
Carroll’s Jenna Weis remains among national leaders after clearing three-and-a-half meters earlier this winter.
For high jump events, Illinois Wesleyan freshman Gwendolyn Boettinger cleared a height of five feet five inches on Saturday—eighth best nationwide and third all-time for her school—while Elmhurst’s Brooke Greaves and Angelina Camaci each reached heights over one-and-a-half meters this season.
Freshmen and underclassmen are making an impact across middle- and long-distance events: North Central’s Dylan Moeller won both an early-season eight-hundred meter race and last weekend's three-thousand meter run; Millikin sophomore Brooklynn Sweikar leads mile times after running just over five minutes eleven seconds last Saturday; Augustana's Norah Wright finished second in an eight-hundred meter race held by St Ambrose; Wheaton teammates Meredith Eisses and Abby Lawson finished within one hundredth-of-a-second apart when they raced each other back in December.
In hurdles competition, Elmhurst's Brooke Greaves posted an eighth-place national result (8.82 sec.) for sixty-meter hurdles earlier this winter; Tiana Grady later won that event locally last weekend while Augustana's Khaliah Knox placed second elsewhere recently.
Wheaton athlete Hannah Tompkins currently tops pentathlon scores among CCIW competitors with over twenty-six hundred points earned late last year; two North Central athletes have posted solid marks across multiple multi-event competitions so far this season.
Relay teams are showing depth: North Central’s women won their home meet by fourteen seconds with their four-by-four hundred meter relay team posting just over four minutes four seconds—a leading conference time—while Illinois Wesleyan narrowly edged out Elmhurst to win their own relay title last weekend; Millikin currently leads distance medley relays based on recent performance; Carroll began its season ranked among national leaders for relays as well.
The schedule continues this week as Carthage heads to Ripon College for Friday competition while several schools—including Elmhurst, Illinois Wesleyan, North Park and North Central—travel to Chicago for Aurora Grand Prix meets on Saturday; Millikin competes at IC Snow Bird Invite (Jacksonville), Carroll goes to Karl Schlender Invitational (Whitewater), and Augustana travels to Iowa Hilltop Invitational.