Storm quartet earns all-region distinction

NEW ORLEANS - Four athletes on the Simpson men's track and field team were named to the USTFCCCA All-Region Team, as announced Tuesday.

To be named to the All-Region team, an individual must be ranked in the top five of a specific event in the athlete's respective region, or be a member of a relay team that is in the top three.

The Storm saw four athletes earn the status over a total of five events. Spencer Moon, the Indoor Track MVP at the American Rivers Conference Championships, earned the honor in two events. Moon leads the midwest region in the 5000 meters, with his time of 14:07.35 the top raw time by 17 seconds. Moon also received the All-Region distinction in the 3000 meters, ranking second with a time of 8:15.79. It is the second straight year Moon has been selected to the team in the 3000 and 5000 meters, giving him 10 career All-Region honors across his illustrious career.

Carter Berkey is the other Storm athlete that has posted a region-leading mark. Berkey leads the long jump in the midwest region after he made his school-record jump of 7.22 meters at Grinnell in late January.

A pair of Storm athletes round out the honorees. After Max Cleveland's career-best 8.12 time in the 60 meter hurdles last weekend, cementing his spot at the NCAA Division III Championships in the process, the junior moved up to fifth in the region. Ulysses Patterson also received the honor in the heptathlon, with his score of 4,704 points set at the conference championships placing him fifth in the region as well.

Moon, Berkey, and Cleveland will also have a chance to improve on their marks this weekend. The trio will be competing at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships in Birmingham, Ala., beginning on Friday.