February 26, 2005

DECORAH, IOWA . . . For the third time in three years Wartburg College won the men’s and women’s Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) indoor track and field Championship. Loras College tied Wartburg for the men’s Championship at the Conference meet held at Luther College on Friday and Saturday (February 25-26).

On the men’s side, Loras and Wartburg each totaled 157 points. Central College finished in third, one point behind. Dubuque (61.0 points) and Luther (58.0) round out the top-5. The men’s title came down to the final event, the 4x400 relay. With Simpson being disqualified from its third-place finish, Wartburg moved from fifth-place to fourth in the relay, enabling the Knights to tie Loras for the team title.

On the women’s side, Wartburg amassed 191.5 points, defeating runner-up Loras (143.0 points) by 48.5 points. Luther finished third with 121.5 points followed by Central (90.3) and Cornell (63.0).

Wartburg senior Missy Buttry (Shenandoah, Iowa/Shenandoah) and junior Josh Hauser (Union, Iowa/BCLUW) were named the women’s and men’s Most Valuable Performers. Buttry, who also received the Indoor Track MVP in 2003, won the 800-meter run (2:15.96) and the mile run (4:46.06), and ran the anchor leg of the winning distance medley relay (11:51.61, a Conference record).

Hauser won the 200-meter dash, breaking his own Conference record with a time of 22.22 seconds, and ran the lead-off leg of the winning 4x200 relay (1:30.56). He also placed third in the 400-meter dash (50.20) and the long jump (21-11.75).

Wartburg’s Marcus Newsom was named IIAC Women’s Track and Field Coach of the Year for the third straight year and Central’s Kevin Sanger was named IIAC Men’s Track and Field Coach of the Year.

Complete Championship results are here (men/women). The top-three finishers in each event and members of the top-three relay teams earn All-Conference recognition.

-30-