Bessinger

 

Becky Bessinger '09 (pictured) broke her own school record in the 3000-meter steeplechase to lead the Grinnell College women's track and field team at the 2009 Midwest Conference Championships on Saturday, May 9.She placed fourth in the event with a clocking of 11 minutes, 34.85 seconds, beating her previous best of 11:41.55 established in 2007. Her performance helped the Pioneers finish 5th in the team standings with 45 points. Monmouth College defended its title with 254 points.Placing fifth for Grinnell on Saturday were Leah Russell '11 in the 800 (2:24.77) and Hannah Colter '12 in the 5000 (19:00.26).On the men's side, Nick Sparr '09 raced to victory in the men's 3000 steeplechase to help Grinnell to a third-place tie in the team standings.Sparr ran the race in 9:37.87 to beat his nearest competitor by nearly 9 seconds. Shyam Desphande '11 also competed in the race, finishing fifth in 9:53.04.Ethan Heppner '11 was second in the 5000 race in 15:20.55, while Sparr took third in 15:41.11. Kyle Lynch-Klarup '10 was third in the 800 in 1:57.81, Mike Martinez '10 placed fourth in the 100 in 11.17 and the 4x400 relay team placed fifth in 3:29.38.Grinnell's men scored 116 points, the same as Carroll University. Monmouth defended its title with 194 points and Illinois College was second with 145.
MWCFInalResults.pdf
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