Rams take several all-conference hopefuls into IIAC Championships Feb. 25-26

The waiting game is over for Cornell College's Madison Craw (Mason City/Mason City). The senior thrower punched her ticket to indoor nationals with an NCAA automatic mark in the shot put Saturday at the Spartan Open in Dubuque.

Craw, who had posted multiple provisional marks this season, left no doubt about this one after launching a winning toss of 46 feet, .50 inches on her sixth and final attempt. Her Iowa Conference-leading mark is tied for fourth-best in Division III and is one of five to meet the automatic standard for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships March 11-12 in Bexley, Ohio.

Craw's personal-best effort was good for a new facility mark at University of Dubuque's A.Y. McDonald Track. She came within five inches of the school record. Craw is the second track and field athlete to hit an automatic mark in head coach Lonnie Speidel's 11 seasons at the helm – James Wohrley had an auto in the decathlon in 2010.

“I've seen Madison throw that distance several times in practice and in warm-ups,” Speidel said. “It was just a matter of her staying relaxed and executing in a meet.”

Junior Chase Nowak (Colorado Springs, Colo./Cheyenne Mountain) claimed Cornell's lone other event title, outdistancing 40 competitors in the men's mile with a personal-best time of 4 minutes, 21.60 seconds. He beat runner-up Brad Keating of Augustana by one second and also established a new arena record.

The Cornell men received a runner-up performance from senior Roli Teko-Folly (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Osseo) in the high jump. He cleared a personal-best 6-06 and was only 1.5 inches short of a provisional mark.

The men's 4x400 relay of Matt McGowan (Winona, Minn./Winona), Reed Skoog (Overland Park, Kan./Shawnee Mission South), Scott Riedel (Marengo/HLV) and Andrew Harter (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) placed third in 3:28.54, the third-fastest time in the IIAC.

Sophomore Raquel Ristau (Cresco/Crestwood) had a solid meet, taking third in both the shot put (37-07.25) and weight throw (46-05.25). Her weight throw was a personal-best. Ariel Harris (Spring, Texas/Klein Oak) qualified for the finals in the 55, placing eighth in a season-best time of 7.94. Elise Mead (Andover, Minn./Andover) and Allie Jagielo (Almond, Wis./Tri-County) finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in the mile.

IIAC Championships – The Rams will have several individuals in the mix for all-conference honors (awarded to the top three finishers in each event) at the IIAC Indoor Championships Friday and Saturday, Feb. 25-26 in Pella. The meet kicks off at 10 a.m. Friday with the pentathlon. Field events start at 4 p.m., followed by running events at 6 p.m.

The Cornell men placed sixth in last year's team race. The Rams are the defending champions in the 4x800 relay. Adam Rooyakkers (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly) took second in the 800 and ran on the third-place distance medley relay. The women finished eighth in 2010, led by Craw's runner-up effort in the shot put.

Senior Kirkwood Donavin (Salt Lake City, Utah/West) enters the meet with the IIAC's top men's times in the 800, mile and 3000. Craw owns the top mark in the women's shot put.

“We talk each week about moving forward, and we've done that each weekend,” Speidel said. “I think the kids are ready to take one more step forward and have a good conference meet. We have a lot of events in which we have the potential to score, and in some to score real well. We need to maximize those performances.”

Spartan Open

Saturday, Feb. 19

A.Y. McDonald Indoor Track

University of Dubuque

Dubuque, Iowa

Cornell women's results

55 – 8. Ariel Harris 7.94, Elsie Freland 8.44, Laura Sanchez-Lopez 8.98. 200 – 21. A. Harris 29.39, 26. Freland 30.22, 27. Anna Guittar 30.31, 30. Melissa Kraker 30.91, 33. Kelsey Remeikis 31.66, 37. Amanda Houts 32.76, 39. Sanchez-Lopez 33.37. 400 – 15. Guittar 1:07.99, 18. Remeikis 1:11.91 800 – 7. Laura Ettlin 2:25.23, 9. Allison Newman 2:25.96, 11. Lauren Seemann 2:29.78, 12. Arden Stewart 2:30.75, 20. Hilary Swift 2:36.01. Mile – 4. Elise Mead 5:14.96, 6. Allie Jagielo 5:16.18, 12. Andrea Aerts 5:31.63, 17. Claudia Gonzalez 5:43.13, 19. Mia LaBrier 5:54.47. 3000 – 1. 12. Maria Helgeson 12:10.19. 55 hurdles – 11. Christal Harris 10.28. 4x400 – 6. (C. Harris, Newman, Kraker, Stewart), 4:21.64. Shot put – 1. Madison Craw 46-00.50*, 3. Raquel Ristau 37-07.25, 13. Angela Dugan 30-04.25, 20. C. Harris 27-10. Weight throw – 3. Ristau 46-05.25, 4. Craw 44-09.75, 7. Kelsey Harper 42-11, 8. Dugan 42-10.75. High jump – 5. Kraker 4-09.75. Pole vault – 12. Michelle Hannemann 8-00.50, 17. Houts 7-06.50.

*NCAA automatic mark

Cornell men's results

55 – Andrew Harter 6.87, Vincent Osborne 7.13. 200 – 13. Harter 23.47, 33. Osborne 24.40, 40. Zach Nelson 24.82, 46. Tyrel Garner 25.12, 53. Chris Sedar 26.98. 400 – 15. Reed Skoog 52.86, 27. Scott Riedel 54.45, 33. Nelson 55.41, 37. John McElroy 58.70. 800 – 8. Chris Stadler 2:00.41, 17. Matt McGowan 2:03.32, 28. David Kuhlmann 2:10.69. Mile – 1. Chase Nowak 4:21.60, 6. Andrew Tobben 4:24.19, 14. Jordan Kemme 4:38.14, 21. Michael Kelso 4:42.55, 28. Josh Randall 4:54.80, 31. Carsen Kuesel 4:58.51. 3000 – 10. Ben Jacobs 8:59.83, 31. CJ Horan 9:41.22, 38. Ben Swerdlow 10:00.16. 55 hurdles – Marshall Kraker 9.05. 4x400 – 3. Cornell A (McGowan, Skoog, Riedel, Harter) 3:28.54, 18. Cornell B (Nelson, Roli Teko-Folly, McElroy, Jackson Engstrom) 3:56.77. Triple jump – 5. Garner 41-04.25. Shot put – 11. Kraker 41-06, 22. Engstrom 35-01, 26. Jonathan Araujo 33-02.50. Weight throw – 36. Engstrom 31-04, 38. Araujo 28-08.50. High jump – 2. Roli Teko-Folly 6-06, 11. Garner 5-08. Pole vault – 9. Anthony Bridges 12-05.50.