McLean County Times

With the NCAA Division III Track and Field Outdoor Championships approaching, Illinois Wesleyan University's men's and women's track and field teams are set to participate in two last chance qualifier meets. The events will take place on May 9-10 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and Joliet, Illinois.

The University of La Crosse will host the Uncaged Eagle Open on Friday. Concurrently, the University of St. Francis (Illinois) will hold a two-day event named the USF Fighting Chance Invite.

Recently crowned champions of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin's 4-by-400m relay title, Illinois Wesleyan's team—comprising sophomores Carson Green and Reece Dusek, junior Evan Lowder, and senior Alex Harvey—will compete against top Division III relay teams at La Crosse on Friday.

In addition to these athletes, four Titans from IWU's men's team will head to St. Francis for distance events. Senior Nick Fisch is entered in the 5000m race; junior Zack Daniel will compete in the 1500m; sophomore Aidan Nishimura and senior Ernie Waterson are scheduled for the 800m race. Notably, Waterson recently claimed his first collegiate crown in this event at the CCIW championships.

On the women's side, sophomore Alex Reinhart is set to run in the 800m after securing second place at last weekend's conference championships. Senior Annalese Chudy will participate in her second consecutive weekend running the 10,000m following her victory at the conference meet. Meanwhile, senior Lauren Huber aims to further her performance in both long jump and 100m hurdles as she holds notable positions within Division III standings for pentathlon and open high jump.

The Uncaged Eagle Open begins Friday at 3 p.m., while running events at USF Fighting Chance Invite start at 4 p.m. Saturday’s schedule includes a noon start for field events and a 1 p.m. start on track events at St. Francis. Live results can be accessed through iwusports.com.