FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

USTFCCCA All-Academic

Feb. 15, 2011-- Neal Klein became the fourth straight North Central College men's track & field athlete to earn College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Track Athlete of the Week honors, claiming the award on Tuesday for his performance at the Chicagoland Indoor Championships.

The junior finished first among the 49-athlete field in the 3,000-meter run at Saturday's Chicagoland Indoor Championships inside the Al B. Carius Track, finishing in 8 minutes, 34.11 seconds. His time was over two seconds faster than runner-up and teammate Daniel Kerley (8:36.57). Klein's performance is currently the top time in the CCIW this season at the distance.

The Cardinals have now captured six CCIW Athlete of the Week awards this season, including the last four straight Track Athlete of the Week honors. The 4x400-meter relay squad of Jon Howard, Bai Kabba, Jon Caron and Dan Benton claimed the honor on Feb. 8, Dan Benton earned the award on Feb. 1 and Michael Spain claimed the honor on Jan. 25. Pole vaulters Jon Wood and Josh Winder earned CCIW Field Athlete of the Week honors on Feb. 1 and Jan. 25, respectively.

Top-ranked North Central easily captured its second consecutive Chicagoland Indoor Championships team title, scoring 182.5 points to edge runner-up University of Illinois-Chicago by a 77.5-point margin.

The squad returns to action on Friday, hosting the Cardinal Classic on the Al B. Carius Track with events slated to get underway at 5 p.m.