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Hardin-Simmons, McMurry, Mississippi College and Texas Lutheran were all in action on Day 1 of the 2009 NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships Thursday at Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio. Texas-Tyler's Ben Donnan will begin competition on Friday. Two more days remain in the national meet. Read below for recaps:
Hardin-Simmons
Allen in First Place in Heptathalon
Marietta, Ohio — Hardin-Simmons track and field participants had mixed day in the first day of the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships at Marietta, Ohio.
Ashley Huston is in first place in the heptathlon after four events. She won the 100 hurdles with a 14.43 to score 918 points, she won the high jump with a 5-7 to score 855 points and she was second in the 200 meters to score 792 points. She placed 11th in the shot put with a throw of 33-3 ¾ and scored 539 points. The final three events will start at 11 a.m. on Friday.
Huston finished seventh in the open long jump with a leap of 18 2 ¾ in the finals. Huston will run in the open 100 hurdles as well on Friday.
Dacy Ivy is in 20th place in the heptathlon. She finished fourth in the high jump, but a throw of 28-4 ½ in the shot put took her out of contention for a medal. She scored 604 points in the 100 hurdles, 702 points in the 200 meters to finish 12th and scored 747 points in the high jump. She is in 20th place with a total of 2,494.
Brendon Kelso finished in 17th place in the javelin throw with a toss of 154-03.
McMurry
Defending National Champion Men in First Place
MARIETTA, Ohio – Freshman Gavan Bass finished second in the long jump and junior Thomas Dimitri placed third in the pole vault Thursday to earn the defending national champion McMurry men’s track & field team 14 points and a tie for first place overall with Wisconsin Oshkosh on day one of the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships being held at Marietta College.
Bass, who also finished in second place at the Indoor Championships in March, earned all-American accolades as he jumped 23-4 in the finals to place second behind Buena Vista’s Eric Bertelsen, who jumped 24-2½ in the finals. Bass’ second-place performance earned McMurry eight team points. Bass jumped a first-round 22/8¼ to advance to the final round; meanwhile, Hann Ollison jumped 21-11½ in the preliminary round, which barley kept him out of reaching the finals.
Dimitri broke a Don Drumm Stadium record with his vault of 16-7¼ -- as did Jake Zanetti of Cortland (New York) and Daniel Drewek of Wisconsin Stout. All three vaulters achieved the same mark but Zanetti took first and Drewek took second by virtue of total attempts needed. Dimitri’s third-place performance, though, gave McMurry six more points to even up the overall score with Oshkosh.
Not everything went McMurry’s way on Thursday, though, as the men’s 4x400-meter relay team and the men’s 4x100-meter relay team did not qualify for the final round for the first time in four years. McMurry’s 4x400-meter relay team will not advance to Saturday’s final as the squad consisting of Jeremy Wilson, Brendon Bounds, Marcus Thompson and Bryce Williamson ran a 3:15.52 and the last team to advance (College of New Jersey) ran a 3:14.99. McMurry’s 4x100-meter relay team will also not advance to Saturday’s final as the team of Javorious Tatum, Keith Booth, Bass and Ollison ran a 41.54 and the last team to advance (Wisconsin Stevens Point) ran a 41.52.
Ollison did, however, qualify for Saturday’s final in the 200-meter dash as he ran the second-best preliminary-round time with his effort of 21.36. On Friday, the McMurry men will have Bass competing in the 100-meter dash and Ollison competing in the 400-meter dash.
The McMurry women are currently tied for 25th overall as they posted one point on Thursday by virtue of Breana Anderson-Burton’s eighth-place finish in the long jump. Anderson-Burton jumped 17-10¾ in the finals to get the point for McMurry. Meanwhile, Alexa Roman nearly missed advancing to the final round in the long jump as she jumped 16-2¼ in the preliminary round.
The McMurry women’s 4x100-meter relay team also barely missed advancing to Saturday’s final round as the squad consisting of Roman, Quinesha Franklin, Shelbe Hernandez and Anderson-Burton ran a season-best 47.79 and the final team to advance (Moravian College) ran a 47.52.
On Friday, the McMurry women will have Roman competing in the 100-meter hurdles, Franklin competing in the 100-meter dash, and defending pole vault national champion Holly Rollins competing in the pole vault.
Mississippi College
Coming Soon...
Texas Lutheran
4x100 Team, Jackson Miss Finals
MARIETTA, Ohio – The Texas Lutheran women’s 4x100 meter relay team, the defending NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field national champion, did not reach the national championship final after finishing fourth in its heat Thursday.
At Marietta College’s Don Drumm Stadium, the Bulldogs’ relay team of Sahara Bragner (Victoria/Memorial), Shyra Walker (Cuero/Cuero), Devin Evans (Houston/Hightower), and Staci Jackson (Dallas/Lake Highlands) crossed the line in 48.91 seconds.
TLU led the 4x100 after the first two legs of the relay and was in great position to advance to the finals.
But Evans, the relay’s third leg, was unable to run at full-speed after aggravating the hamstring injury she suffered May 9 at the University of Oklahoma Twilight meet.
“Devin was good for the first 50 meters, and then we really noticed that she could not go,” said Patrick Zarate, TLU’s head coach for women’s track and field. “Devin gave it all she could, and I am very proud of her. But that’s just the way it goes sometimes. We were running a great race and in great position up to that point.”
Evans, Walker and Bragner are freshmen at TLU. Jackson, a senior, was the lone returning member of the 2008 4x100 national championship team. Amber Meeks, Jessica Raglon and Ashley Williams graduated from TLU.
Jackson also did not advance Thursday to Saturday’s 200 championship final after placing third in her heat. Jackson posted a time of 25.00 and missed the final by .20 of a second.
Jackson competed in the 200 heat two hours after racing in the 4x100 heat.
Jackson will race Friday at 2:55 p.m. central in Heat 1 of the 400. Should she advance to the 400 final, Jackson will compete in the championship race, set for 1:20 p.m. central on Saturday.
~Recaps Courtesy of Each Sports Information Department