ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Thanks to a stunning performance by senior Chris Madison (Downers Grove South HS, Downers Grove, Ill.) on Friday, May 15 at the Augustana Twilight Qualifier, the oldest school record on the Vikings' books tumbled under picture-perfect weather conditions. Madison, who could have been running in his final collegiate meet, roared down the home stretch in the 800 and stopped the watches with a winning time 1:51.42.
 
That erased the previous school record of 1:51.44 set in 1969 by Rich Hansen. Madison, who had a previous best this season of 1:53.99, stormed past junior teammate Dan Popek (Minooka HS, Minooka, Ill.) in the final 40 meters of the race. Popek, who was second in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin meet just two weeks ago, placed second behind Madison with a time of 1:51.93. That is now the seventh fastest time in school history.
 
Madison certainly qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championships at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York with his run while Popek is on the bubble in terms of getting into the field.
 
Augustana won a total of nine events in the final meet of the 2015 season prior to the nationals.
 
Senior David Devore (Midland HS, Midland, Mich.) took the 200 in :21.57 and led off the victorious 4x100 relay team. The 4x100 team of Devore and fellow seniors Nowlan Savage (Arapahoe HS, Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Antonio Owens (Naperville North HS, Bolingbrook, Ill.) and Keith Cline (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.) ripped off a time of :41.00. Cline was fourth in the 200 in (:21.78) and Savage took third in the 400 in :48.60. Owens placed fourth in the 400 in :49.21. Savage and Owens also ran on the winning 4x400 relay team (3:17.64) and they were joined by Popek and senior Kyle Bennett (Davenport West HS, Davenport, Iowa).
 
Freshman Jeffrey Swanson (Winnebago HS, Winnebago, Ill.) won the 400 in :47.89 with sophomore Isaac Smith (Marion HS, Marion, Iowa) placing second in :48.19. Savage in third, Owens in fourth and freshman Alex LaMendola (Dixon HS, Dixon, Ill.) in fifth (:50.18) made it a clean sweep of the first five places for the Vikings.
 
Sophomore Stephen Lavelle (Maine South HS, Park Ridge, Ill.) won the 1500 in 3:59.83 while junior Brian Lovejoy (Mt. Carmel HS, Chicago, Ill.) took third in 4:03.87. Senior Alex Odenkirk (Ironwood Ridge HS, Tucson, Ariz.) was fourth (4:05.37) and sophomore Nathan Wendt (Geneva HS, Geneva, Ill.) was fifth in 4:05.92.
 
Augustana also took the top five places in the 400 intermediate hurdles with senior David Voland (Batavia HS, Batavia, Ill.) winning with a time of :52.15. Bennett put himself into contention for an NCAA spot with his second place time of :53.42. Freshman Josh Yamamoto (Fremd HS, Palatine, Ill.) was third (:55.36) with junior Travis Goodwin (Simi Valley HS, Simi Valley, Calif.) taking fourth (:56.54) and freshman Brandon Marcy (Riverton HS, Riverton, Ill.) grabbing fifth (:59.26).
 
Senior Grant Bell (Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa HS, Belgrade, Minn.) won the 3000 steeplechase in 9:30.66 and junior teammate Ethan Koch (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect, Ill.) was second in 9:56.52.
 
The lone Viking victory in the field events came in the triple jump where freshman Travon Aldridge (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) recorded a leap of 46' 0 ¾".
 
Freshman Colton Keenan (Lincoln-Way North HS, Frankfort, Ill.) took second in the long jump (21' 9") and senior Michael Ems (Yorkville HS, Yorkville, Ill.) was the runner-up in the javelin with a toss of 166' 0".
 
Junior Jordan Franks (Mercer County HS, Aledo, Ill.) was third in the 5000 in 17:32.89 and freshman Matthew Henry (Niles West HS, Skokie, Ill.) took third in the 110 high hurdles in :15.60. Freshman Tyler Rubarts (Paxton-Buckley-Loda HS, Paxton, Ill.) finished fourth in the 110 high hurdles (:15.81) and fourth in the long jump (21' 5 ¼"). Senior Alec Seymour (Riverton HS, Riverton, Ill.) was fourth in the javelin with a toss of 163' 8".
 
Senior Vincenzo Dal Pozzo (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville, Ill.) placed fifth in the 800 in 1:54.53. Freshman Andrew Adams (Downers Grove North HS, Downers Grove, Ill.) took fifth in the 110 high hurdles with a time of :17.14. junior Connor Zinn (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) was fifth in the javelin with a toss of 145' 4".