NAPERVILLE, Ill. – North Central’s Dhruvil Patel and Luke Winder were selected as the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Athletes of the Week on Tuesday.
 
Patel, a junior from Skokie, Illinois and Niles North High School (Accounting major), placed third and was the top collegiate runner in the Seeded Section of the Drake Relays’ 5,000-meter run on Thursday. He finished with a personal best time by 17 seconds, clocking in at 13:58.27, which broke the North Central outdoor record of 14:00.63 set by Dan Mayer in 1994. Patel is also the seventh runner in NCAA Division III history to finish the event in under 14 minutes. His time ranks first in both the CCIW and on the Division III national list.
 
Winder, a senior from Joliet, Illinois and Plainfield Central High School (Exercise Science major), narrowly missed out on a second-straight pole vault title at the Drake Relays on Saturday. He and South Dakota’s Ethan Bray each cleared a height of 17-8 1/2, but Bray was awarded first place because of fewer missed attempts. Winder also competed at the Lewis University Twilight on Tuesday and won with a height of 17-4 ½. The five-time national champion holds the top mark in the nation at 17-10 ½, which he achieved at the Bellarmine Classic on April 21.
 
2018 CCIW Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Athletes of the Week
 
Track
Dhruvil Patel – North Central (5/1/18)
Clayton Sommers – Augustana (4/24/18)
Matt Norvell – North Central (4/17/18)
Josh Yamamoto – Augustana (4/10/18)
Dhruvil Patel – North Central (4/3/18)
Christian Zenon – Millikin (3/27/18)
 
Field
Luke Winder – North Central (5/1/18)
Cody Wheeler – Augustana (4/24/18)
Luke Winder – North Central (4/17/18)
Jacob Mammosser – Elmhurst (4/10/18)
Ethan Ehlers – Augustana (4/3/18)
No Selection (3/27/18)
 
Twitter & Instagram: CCIW_Athletics
 
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carroll University (Waukesha, WI), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2016-17 academic year, the CCIW honored over 1,900 academic all-conference recipients, 10 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 33 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients, one CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year and over 100 all-Americans.