UPLAND, Ind. – In an exciting and closely decided event jumper Chris Hickox continued his standout track & field season by winning the men’s high jump at the NCCAA National Championship meet on May 4, 2007.

Hickox’ (Mobile, Ala.) won the event by virtue of the fewest jumps taken when he and two other competitors all missed clearing 6-10. Leading up to his winning height of 6-8 Hickox did not miss a jump before his attempts at 6-10. The third place jumper from Cedarville University (Cedarville, Ohio) had only two misses before the final height, while the second place athlete from Malone College (Canton, Ohio) only missed one jump before the last round.

The victory gives NCU its first ever national champion in an individual event and concluded an undefeated season in the high jump event for Hickox.

Other Rams competing in the meet were Freshman Daniel Bare (Portage, Wis.) and Senior John Gieske (Sauk Center, Minn.) who finished 11th and 13th respectively in the Men’s 1500 meters. Rounding out the Rams Nationals team was Senior Ricky Backhaus (Little Falls, Minn.) who finished 20th in the Men’s Javelin.

Hickox also finished 13th in the Men’s Javelin.

NORTHFIELD, Minn. - On a warm and sunny Saturday at the 61st annual Carleton College Relays, North Central Track & Field saw sophomore Chris Hickox (Mobile, Ala.) hit the national qualification mark for the men’s javelin throw.

Hickox’ throw of 152-3 not only surpassed the national automatic qualification standard of 150-0 but increased the school record by over nine feet, a mark he already held. The throw also was good enough for fifth place in the meet.

Rounding out his outstanding day, Hickox also won the men’s high jump with a jump of 6-8 which also gave him the school record in that event. That win means Hickox has won the event at all three meets North Central has competed at this season.

Hickox currently holds four NCU records including the long jump and triple jump events.

The Rams next compete Wednesday, April 25 at Macalester College (St. Paul, Minn.) when the Scots host the MAC Twilight Invitational which begins at 5pm.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.- North Central University Men’s Track and Field qualified its first athlete for the 2007 NCCAA National Championship Meet while competing at the Augustana College Early Spring Opener on March 31.

Sophomore High Jumper Chris Hickcox cleared a height of 6′4 3/4″ on his way to winning that event for the day. That mark also surpassed the NCCAA Automatic Qualifying standard of 6′2″ set for the 2007 Championships which were released Monday, April 2. That also means that North Central will be given five provisional event entries for athletes who might not surpass a qualifying mark.

Hickox’ qualification to the meet marks the second time in school history an NCU jumper has qualified for the National Championships. In 2003 Justin Vagle was an All-American in the high jump and set the school record in that event.

The NCCAA Championship Meet will be held at Taylor University (Upland, Ind.) on May 3-5, 2007.

SUPERIOR, Wis.– North Central Track and Field traveled to the University of Wisconsin-Superior (Superior, Wis.) on Saturday for the first meet of the indoor season.

The team performed well considering the training constraints it has faced this year. The women’s team placed ninth out of ten teams from NCCAA division II and III and the men’s team placed ninth out of eleven teams, including the University of Minnesota.

The women’s 4×800 relay team broke the school record by 35 seconds, coming in at 11:49.05. The relay composed of freshmen Grace Wolfgram (Green Bay, Wis) and Emily Shaut (Green Bay, Wis.), and sophomores Trisha Steen (Hannover, Minn.) and Angela Riley (Rosemount, Minn.) finished second to claim 8 team points. Senior Kyja Meers (Cold Spring, Minn.) placed ninth in the 400-meter dash, just one place out of the scoring.

Senior John Gieske (Sauk Centre, Minn.) placed fifth in the 1000 with a 2:47.67 and sixth in the mile with 4:47.54 to earn five points for the men’s team.

The Ram’s next meet is at Bethel University on Saturday, February 3, at 11am. It will be the first time the team has competed at Bethel since they installed a brand new surface during the fall.