MOUNT VERNON – Cornell's Isaac vanWestrienen stretched his arms out wide and held up two fingers before he coasted through the finish line in the men's 1500-meter run at Friday's Midwest Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
 
VanWestrienen achieved a tough distance double, winning the 10000 and 1500 races in a span of about two hours on a warm afternoon at Van Metre Field at Ash Park.
 
They were MWC track titles No. 10 and 11 for the super senior, who will have one more chance at gold Saturday in the 5000.
 
VanWestrienen's two victories, a third-place effort by Hadley Beaty in the long jump and a strong round of prelims races have the Rams positioned well going into Saturday's final day of competition.
 
Illinois College leads the team race with 43 points, followed by Lawrence (42), Monmouth (38) and Cornell (34).   
 
VanWestrienen repeated as 10000-meter champion while setting a facility record in 31:18.34. He crossed 27 seconds ahead of runner-up Dylan Malmgren from Beloit. Cornell teammate Ethyn Chesnut came in seventh (34:22.21).
 
Not long after, vanWestrienen returned to the track for another record-breaking performance in the 1500. In sixth place with about 300 meters to go, vanWestrienen kicked it into high gear and won comfortably in 3:52.12. He broke the MWC Championships record of 3:52.59, set by former teammate Fisher Isaacson in 2024.
 
Cornell's Jake Bach, the early leader in the 1500, finished seventh in 3:58.54.
 
The unseeded Beaty earned six important points in the long jump with a third-place mark of 21-10.25. Brody Williams scored in the hammer throw, taking fifth (166-9).  
 
The Rams qualified 12 individuals in four races for Saturday's finals. Chase Staker posted the fastest prelims time in the 400 (49.26), followed by Jensen Meeker in third (50.58) and Jaxin McGuire sixth (51.00).
 
Cornell finished 3-4-5 in the 400 hurdles trials with Austin Wilkins (57.58), Blaine Dohrmann (57.87) and Dylan Adam (58.14). In the 200, Beaty qualified fourth (22.00), Staker fifth (22.05) and Meeker seventh (22.17).
 
The Rams also advanced three runners into the 100 finals with Dalles Hernandez (fifth, 10.75), Zavion Jordan (sixth, 10.79) and Beaty (seventh, 10.80).