ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — The Carthage men's track and field team competed at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Championships on Saturday, placing sixth as a team while Matthew Ausse and Connor Bell claimed individual crowns at the Austin E. Knowlton Outdoor Athletic Complex.

"The final team standings may not reflect it, but this was by far our best meet of the season," said head coach Josh Henry. "All event groups had great days and we had a lot of people just miss scoring in multiple events."

The throwers began the day for the Firebirds, as freshman Joseph White took fourth in the men's shot put with a mark of 14.40 meters, while Alex Pitrone placed seventh at 14.12 meters. White scored for Carthage yet again in the discus, this time taking second place after a toss of 46.38 meters.

In the afternoon, Matthew Ausse won his first conference title of his career after throwing a career-best 56.35 meters in the hammer throw. Diego Torrez and Nick Huff would score for the Firebirds in the hammer as well, placing seventh and eighth, respectively. Carthage would secure their second CCIW title of the meet in the javelin, as Connor Bell threw a career-best by nearly six meters, winning his first conference crown with a toss of 52.50 on his third attempt.

Edelmar Morales-Rivera placed for Carthage in the jumps, as he took seventh on a leap of 13.13 meters in the triple jump.

On the track, Cameron Fischer scored for Carthage in the first running event of the day, clocking a 9:53.61 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to take seventh. The second event on the track was the 110-meter hurdles, as Bell placed eighth on a time of 16.42 seconds. In the 400, Cody Canegan took fifth place after crossing the finish line in 49.64 seconds.

Running in the third heat of the 100, Mason Tucker would go on to take a final place of sixth after running an 11.23, while Cody Canegan would score yet again for the Firebirds, placing fourth in the 200 with a time of 22.39.

In the 4x400-meter relay, Carthage crossed the finish line in 3:30.95 to take seventh place, before Thomas Olenek placed seventh in the 10,000-meter run, crossing the finish line in 32:41.30.

"Knowing we bring back a lot of guys, today bodes very well for the future," said Henry. "We also had two individual champions with Connor in the javelin and Matt in the hammer. Both of those guys had incredible throws today and it was exciting to see them perform their best at the right time."

The Firebirds finished the day with 70 points to take sixth as a team overall.

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