Covenant News

Busy Weekend for North Park Track, Basketball Teams

ROMEOVILLE, IL (February 16, 2004) - Grace Conrad placed second and teammate Kari Thompson was seventh in the 3,000 meter run as the North Park University (NPU) men's and women's track and field teams participated at the Lewis University Invitational last Friday (February 13).

Conrad was clocked in 10 minutes, 32.62 seconds in the 3,000, just behind the 10:30.19 posted by Christen Carducci of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. Thompson ran an 11:31.98 during the event.

Lucia Abel leaped 18 feet, 4 and 1/2 inches for second place in the long jump while teammate Elizabeth Podczaski leaped 16-6 to place sixth. Other individual NPU standouts included high jumper Essence Ashford (tied for fourth), Allison Weller (fifth in the mile run), and Becky Gritter (seventh in the 800). The women also placed fourth in the 800 meter relay and fifth in the 1,600 relay.

For the men, Karl Hench had the top individual effort, placing eighth in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 17:42.67. The men also placed seventh in the 1,600 meter relay.

On Saturday, NPU will compete again at Lewis University, this time at the Chicagoland Championships.

In other sports action last weekend, Redina Hall scored 13 points but North Park dropped a 55-53 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) women's basketball decision at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. They fall to 12-10 overall, 4-7 in conference play.

Hall scored all of her points in the first half as the Vikings took a 31-21 lead. Coach Jack Surridge's squad eventually took a 36-24 advantage on a Tiffany Campbell 3-point basket with 18:43 remaining.

Carthage put together a 15-3 run over a span of 6:27 to tie the game at 39-39 with 12:17 left. North Park's last lead came with 5:23 left as Angie Watts scored a basket to give the Vikings a 49-47 lead. Carthage scored the next eight points to lead 55-49 with 2:28 left.

Laura Mount (11 points) hit a 3-point basket with 58 seconds remaining to cut the Carthage lead to 55-53 and North Park forced a miss on Carthage's next possession. But Mount missed a jump shot with seven seconds left that would've tied the contest. With the win, Carthage moved to 12-10, 6-6 in CCIW play.

The NPU women host Augustana College in a 7:30 p.m. conference matchup on Tuesday, and then play a 2 p.m. home contest against North Central College on Saturday. The Vikings finish the regular season with a 7:30 p.m. home game on February 24.

The NPU men's basketball team had the weekend off. The Vikings travel to Wheaton College on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. CCIW basketball contest at King Arena. They play at Carthage in a 7:30 p.m. game on Saturday before playing Millikin University in a 7:30 p.m. home contest on February 25.

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