Moon named regional athlete of the year, Storm remain in top 15 in national rankings

NEW ORLEANS - Spencer Moon of the Simpson College men's track and field team was named the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Men's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year, while the team also was ranked 12th in the penultimate edition of the national rankings.

Moon picked up his 13th and 14th career all-region honors yesterday in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters, leading the region in the 5,000 and placing second in the 3,000. Moon holds the school and conference records in each, running an 8:04.91 in the 3,000 meters and a 13:59.20 in the 5,000 meters. He is only the seventh athlete in Division III history to go under 14 minutes in the 5,000 meters.

The Lake City, Iowa native defended both of his titles in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters at the American Rivers Conference Championships in late February. Moon has won his last seven individual conference championships races, including the last four 5,000 meter races (indoor and outdoor). Moon also helped anchor the distance medley relay team to a school record time of 9:59.06 at the Eagle Open, the first time a Storm distance medley relay team went under 10 minutes in the event.

"Spencer's performances this indoor season were spectacular, which they had to be to win this award," said Storm director of track and field and cross country Heath Moenck. "Men's Track Athlete of the Year in our region is a great accomplishment and we could not be more proud of him."

The Storm also checked in 12th in the penultimate edition of the USTFCCCA National Rankings. Simpson was one of six conference teams to appear, the most out of any other conference in the country.

Simpson collected 54.63 points in the poll, with Moon accounting for 35.31 of those points. Moon is currently ranked in the top five nationally in both the 3,000 and 5,000 meters. Max Cleveland earned a further 17.67 points by being ranked third in the country in the 60 meter hurdles, with a time of 7.95. Ulysses Patterson rounded off the Storm's total by being ranked 15th in the country in the heptathlon with a school record 4,871 points. All three athletes will compete at the NCAA Championships beginning on Friday.