Three Former Scot Thinclads Selected NCAC All-Decade

Tony Kauke

Michelle Poole

In conjunction with the upcoming 2004 North Coast Athletic Conference Championships (March 5-6), the league office announced its All-Decade Teams (1994-03) for indoor track and field on Tuesday, with former College of Wooster student-athletes Tony Kauke (Oakland, Calif. / Alhambra), Michelle Poole (Fairport, N.Y. / Fairport), and Justina Wiliams (Woodland Hills, Calif. / El Camino Real) being honored.

Kauke was cited for his career (1995-98) efforts in the 800 meters by former and present NCAC coaches and administrators who voted for the top performer (men and women) in each of the 13 events. Poole, who competed from 1994-97, was also a middle-distance specialist (1500 meters), while Williams was picked out for her recent (1999-2002) dominance in the long jump.

Kauke’s times of 1:59.96 in 1995 as a freshman and 1:57.5 as a junior won him a pair of NCAC indoor championships in the 800. Kauke, whose 1:57.5 mark was a conference championships-record at the time and a school record up until last season, placed runner-up as a senior (1:59.39).

Poole’s top individual performance at the NCAC indoor meet through her first two years at Wooster was a third-place finish in the 1500 (4:55.5) before she exploded for back-to-back individual championships in the event. As a junior, Poole, who still owns four indoor school records (500, 800, 1000, and 1500 meters), turned in a winning time of 4:59.24. She then trimmed about nine seconds off of that (4:50.3) to win again during her senior season, which coupled with an 800 meters title (2:21.80), landed her 1997 NCAC Distance Runner-of-the-Year honors. Poole was part of three league-champion relays during her career, too.

Justina Williams

Williams was the champion or runner-up in the long jump every year she competed at the NCAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, capped by earning the Most Valuable Field Performer award in both 2001 and 2002. She won with marks of 18 feet even and 17 feet, 5.25 inches each of those seasons, respectively, and her 18-foot jump as a junior still stands as a conference- and school-record. Williams, who once picked up all-conference honors for a third-place effort in the 55-meter dash (7.62) is the Scots’ indoor record holder in the triple jump (36 feet, 10.5 inches) as well.

In celebrating the league’s 20th anniversary, the NCAC is releasing a second set of All-Decade Teams for all 22 sports that it sponsors throughout 2003-04. The NCAC previously picked All-Decade Teams for student-athletes from the years of 1984-1993 when honoring its 10th year of operation.