Eight All-Conference performances led the Wabash track and field team to a tie for second place at the 2005 North Coast Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, held Friday and Saturday at Denison University.
The Little Giants, fifth at the 2004 event, tied with Ohio Wesleyan University for second with 96 team points. Allegheny won the competition with 161 points. Wittenberg was fourth (75), followed by Denison (61), Earlham (54), Oberlin (46), Wooster (15), Kenyon (10) and Hiram (10).
Freshman Mike Russell (Terre Haute, IN/Terre Haute North) paced the Wabash effort with four All-Conference awards. Russell finished second in the long jump with a leap of 21 feet, 7-1/2 inches to earn his first All-NCAC honor. His second came with a third place finish in the 200-meter dash, finishing with a time of 23.06. Teammate Bart Banach (FR/Munster, IN/Munster) just missed a place on the All-Conference team, finishing fourth with a time of 23.30.
Russell and Banach combined with Tim Rickard (FR/Valparaiso, IN/Valparaiso) and Nathan Bates (SO/Ossian, IN/Norwell) to win the 4 X 200-meter relay with a time of 1:32.67. Rickard and Bates would also join Josh Jones (SO/North Richland Hills, TX/Nolan Catholic) and Geoff Lambert (FR/Chesterton, IN/Chesterton) for a dominating win in the 4 X 400-meter relay. The quartet won the event by over two seconds, crossing the finish line in 3:28.47.
Bates, who missed last year's indoor championship but did go on to win the outdoor 400-meter title, captured his first career title in the indoor 400. He won the race with a time of 50.24, nearly a second faster than his closest competition.
Lambert added his own top effort in the 800-meter run. The newcomer won the event with a time of 1:56.53.
Jones also had two individual All-Conference efforts. He finished second in the high jump, clearing six feet, three inches. He was third in the long jump with a distance of 21 feet, 3-3/4 inches. Jones just missed a spot on the All-Conference team in the triple jump, finishing fourth with a leap of 41 feet, three inches.