Beloit captured a pair of seventh place finishes, for the fourth straight year, at the 2010 championships and look to move up the ranks under head coach Brian Bliese. On the men side Kenneth Williams holds the third fastest time in the conference in the 400 intermediate hurdles as well as sitting ninth in the 400-meter dash. Mathew Kahl anchors the Beloit sprint events with the team’s top time in the 100-meter dash and second fastest mark in the 200-meter dash. Travis Towns owns the top conference mark in the javelin throw, almost four feet better than his next closest competitor. The Buc women will lean on Kiera Hayes for points this season as she holds the teams top marks in four different events (100, 200, 400-meter dash and 400 intermediate hurdles) while teammate Geneva Schulz-Welo will contend in the 1,500 and 3,000-meter run. Erika Moen tops the field event participants with the conference’s second best toss in the discus.

Head coach Shawn Thielitz will guide Carroll to the championships and aim to be the first team to overtake Monmouth since the Pioneers did so in the 2004 season. Carroll earned second place finishes in 2010 and return five medalists in 2011. On the men’s side the Pioneers return their championship 4x100 and 4x400-meter relay teams which hold the second and fifth best times, respectively, this season. Leslie Hyland holds the top conference mark in the 100-meter dash and also has top-eight times in the 200 and 400-meter dashes. Joseph Pliner also has the second best time in the 1500-meter run and will lead the Pioneers distance teams. The Pioneer women return three champions as Lindsay Gruenke is the defending 200 and 400-meter dash champion and Amanda Trieloff will defend her javelin win in 2010. Gruenke and Trieloff both hold top marks in their respective events this season for the Pioneers.

Grinnell Men’s Head Coach Will Freeman is in search of the Pioneers first men’s championship since 1994 when the team competes at Monmouth. Freeman boasts a talented core of distance runners led by Alex Reich who holds the conference’s top time in both the 5,000 and 10,000-meter run. Reich’s teammates, Shyam Deshpande and Eric Figge, come in second and third, respectively, in the 5,000-meter run while Deshpande also places third in the 3,000-meter steeple chase. Noah Delong will content in the 1,500-meter run as he ranks eighth in the MWC in the event. Evelyn Freeman looks to improve the eighth place finish from a year ago as she brings a mix of talent to the championships. Isabelle Miller holds the top conference time in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles and fourth in the 400-meter hurdles while Sarah Burnell owns top-three times in the 800 and 1,500-meter run. Stephanie Rouse will contend in the distance events as she ran top-five times in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 5,000-meter run during the regular season.

After sixth (men) and fourth (women) place finishes in 2010 Illinois C. Head Coach Mike Brooks will look to returning individual champions Josiah and Melissa Norville to improve the team’s standings in 2011. Josiah Norville is the lone returning men’s champion from a year ago in the 110-meter hurdles and holds the third best time in the conference this season. Caleb Cox and Dillon Binkley will challenge in the field events as Cox ranks third in the javelin and seventh in the long jump while Binkley is third in the conference in the high jump. Melissa Norville will lead the Lady Blues after winning three individual championships (100-meter hurdles, long jump and triple jump) in 2010 and holding the top spots in all three events entering the championships. Megan Stringer leads the field events holding top-10 marks in each of the long jump (6^th), javelin (3^rd) and discus (8^th).

Dan Zierfuss is in search of Knox’s first men’s championship since 1987 and the first women’s championship in school history this weekend when the Prairie Fire compete at Monmouth. On the men’s side Joe Puntoriero holds the 10^th best time in the long jump while distance runner Gabriel Moreno holds the fifth best time in the conference in the 10,000-meter run. Weston Chenoweth is the Prairie Fire’s top performer in the field events, leading the team in both the shot put and javelin throw. For the women, Chole Bohm leads the team in three events (400-meter dash, 800-meter dash, 3,000-meter steeplechase) and teammate Caitlin McLaughlin hold the top team marks in the discus and javelin throws.

A pair of ninth-place finishes has Lawrence Head Coach Jason Fast looking to move up in the standings at the 2011 championships. Sam Stevens sits in the top three in the conference standings in both the 1,500-meter run and the 3,000-meter steeple chase and ranks eighth in the 800-meter dash. M.Jay Bouska leads Lawrence in the high, triple and long jump events while Sam Wagner will compete in the sprint events, holding top-two marks in both the 100 and 200-meter dash. Rose Tepper and Erica Schmidt will lead the women’s side at the championships as both have top-ten conference marks. Tepper sits second in the conference in the high jump while also leading the Vikings in the javelin throw and Schmidt ranking ninth overall in the discus.

Monmouth will serve as host for the 2011 championships and be in search of their seventh sweep of the competition and 11^th straight men’s title. Head coach Roger Haynes returns three individual men’s champions from a year ago, all in the field events. Tyler Hannam (high jump), Brock McAnally (pole vault) and Peyton Lumzy (shot put) will defend their championships with Hannam and McAnally holding the top marks in the conference this season. Logan Hohl leads the MWC in both the 100-meter hurdles and 400-meter IM hurdles and Saidu Sesay will contend for an individual title in the sprint events. The Scots also have three returning champions on the women’s side. Jae Moore (100-meter dash), Whitney Didier (pole vault) and Amanda Streeter (hammer throw) return to defend their respective titles while Mary Kate Beyer will push for multiple championships after running top marks in both the 5,000-meter run and 3,000-meter steeple chase.

Head coach Robert Duley returns in search of Ripon’s first men’s championship since 1924 and first women’s championship in school history after a pair of fifth place finishes in 2010. Cory Zimmerman returns to defend his title in the 800-meter dash and currently holds the top mark in the conference entering the championships. Jason Smith will contend in the distance events as he holds top-six times in both the 1,500 and 5,000-meter run while Ben Worcester has the second fastest time in the 10K. Lydia Sondalle leads the Ripon women into the championships holding the second best mark in the conference in the 200-meter dash and the fifth best time in the 100-meter dash. Lexie Schaffer will content in the 400-meter dash and high jump with top-ten performances in each and Arynn Martin will be a favorite in the javelin after tossing the conferences second farthest mark during the season.

St. Norbert Head Coach Don Augustine returns to the MWC Championships after a pair of top-four finishes in 2010 and brings a talented men’s and women’s team to Monmouth. Mackenzie Laska comes back to defend his 3,000-meter steeple chase title, holding the top mark in the conference this season, while Dan Schneider holds a first place time in the 400-meter dash and second place time in the 200-meter dash. Nate Heppe is one of the best middle distance runners entering the weekend holding the second best time in the 800-meter run and a top-seven time in the 1,500-meter run. On the women’s side Emily Schudrowitz returns after two individual championships (800 and 1,500-meter run) in 2010 and ranks in the top eight in four different events (1^st-800-meter dash, 2^nd-400-meter dash, 4^th-1,500-meter run, 8^th-200-meter dash). The Green Knights will rely on Amanda Whipple in the distance events as she holds the top time in the 10k and the second best time in the 5,000-meter run.