Blazier fourth in CCIW pole vault

Carthage College senior Nate Blazier finished fourth in the pole vault in the CCIW Meet. (Carthage College photo)

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Nate Blazier is going out with a bang at Carthage College

The senior from Princeton won the pole vault crown in the April 21 Wisconsin Private College Outdoor Track and Field Championship on Carthage’s Kenosha, Wis., campus, clearing 14-5 1/2.

Two weeks later, Blazier captured fourth in the pole vault (15-4 1/2) in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) at North Central College in Naperville.

• Jason Bill and the Fighting Illini are competing in the 2007 Big Ten Outdoor Championships at University Park, Pa., this weekend to battle for the conference crown at Penn State.

Bill, a senior from Buda, is just hitting stride having qualified for the NCAA Regional Meet in the 5,000-meter in the April 26 Drake Relays with a fifth-place time of 14:08.67. Qualifying time is 14:12.

“I was really proud of Jason and the way he battled back today,” said Illini assistant coach Wendel McRaven. “The goal coming in was to qualify for regionals, and he got it done today. He had to rally and finish strong to get his mark, but he did it. He ran a very solid race.”

Bill could also make some noise in the steeplechase at University Park.

• The Augustana College Vikings placed second in the CCIW meet behind North Central on May 5 in Naperville. Helping the Vikings’ cause was three Bureau County athletes.

Sophomore Jeff Scoma of Princeton was second (15.64) in the 110 hurdles behind teammate Jeff McMillan (15.37) of Erie. Ladd’s John Thompson was eighth in the pole vault (13-10 1/2) with Princeton’s Alex Hartz taking eighth in the long jump (21-2 1/2).

Softball

Princeton’s Dawn Nissen went 2-4, including her first triple, and 1-4 in her final games of her career for Central College in the Iowa Conference Tourney.

The senior shortstop batted .319 (38-119) with two homers and 12 RBIs.

• Anna Coutts of Ladd went 1-4 in each game of a doubleheader in the season finale for the Monmouth College Fighting Scots. The junior outfielder batted .207 with a homer and seven RBIs. Teammate Kristin Bick-ett, a junior from Malden, also had a homer with six RBIs.

• Junior Shanna Diller, daughter of Princeton natives Tom and Julie (Bogatt) Diller, has record-breaking season with the University of Illinois softball team. She has shattered the Illini’s single-season home run record at 16 along with teammate Angelena Mexicano. Her 16 home runs are also second in Big Ten history. The third baseman leads the Big Ten with seven home runs in conference play and ranks second on Illinois’ all-time homer list (28).

Diller also earned the team’s Scholar-Athlete award and the Gold Glove Award.

Tennis

Senior Greg Bouslog of Princeton and teammate Alex Carter of Wilton, Iowa finished second at No. 3 doubles in the April 29 Midwest Conference Championships in Madison, Wis. Bouslog also won the consolation finals at No. 6 singles.

Bouslog finished 15-10 in singles and 19-4 overall in doubles.

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