May 24, 2003

CANTON, N.Y. . . . Wartburg College sophomore Missy Buttry (Shenandoah, Iowa/Shenandoah HS) set two NCAA records as she won the National Championship in the 1500-meters and 5000-meters on the final day of the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y.

Buttry defended her title in the 1500-meters winning by nearly nine seconds in a time of 4:20.86. She broke the 16-year-old Championship record by nearly seven seconds. Later in the day, she won the 5000-meters by over 50 seconds in a time of 15:51.23 and broke the 20-year-old Championship record by 15 seconds. Buttry won five National Championships during the 2002-03 year. In addition to her two outdoor titles, she won the 2002 cross country Championship, the indoor 1,500-meters and was a member of the winning indoor distance medley relay team.

Buttry led a group of 20 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) student-athletes that earned All-American honors on the final day of the National Championships. All told, IIAC student-athletes earned 31 All-American honors and won three National titles. Buttry joined Central’s Peter Wagner (Pleasant Hill, Iowa/Southeast Polk HS) who won the decathlon title on Friday.

Buttry and Wartburg’s Josh Moen (Fairbank, Iowa/Wapsie Valley HS) both earned two All-American honors at the NCAA Championships. On Saturday Moen added a third place finish in the 5000-meters (14:28.65) to his seventh place finish in the 10,000-meters (30:45.11) from Friday.

Other Iowa Conference student-athletes earning All-American honors on Saturday were Loras’ Marcus Murphy (Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny HS), who finished fourth in the 5000-meters (14:29.66); Wartburg’s Jason Huegel (Ionia, Iowa/New Hampton HS), who finished fifth in the javelin (196-4); Buena Vista’s Jessica Jensen (Elkhorn, Iowa/Elkhorn-Kimballton HS), who finished sixth in the 400-meter hurdles (61.72); Luther’s Jennifer Anderson (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater HS), who finished tied for seventh in the high jump (5-3.75); and Simpson’s Zach Allison (Grimes, Iowa/Dallas Center-Grimes HS), who finished eighth in the 400-meters (48.14).

Three men’s relay teams also earned All-American honors - Coe’s 4x100 relay team that finished fifth (41.26); Wartburg’s 4x400 relay team that finished fourth (3:12.45); and Loras’ 4x400 relay team that finished sixth (3:13.03). Coe’s relay team included Patrick and Fredrick Jackson (Fort Worth, Texas/Lamar HS), Milton Lanier (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington HS) and George Tyner (Arlington, Texas/Martin HS). Wartburg’s relay team included Andy and Alex Six (Ainsworth, Iowa/Washington HS), Josh Hauser (Union, Iowa/BCLUW HS) and Brent Showalter (Wellman, Iowa/Mid-Prairie HS). Loras’ relay team included Tedd Allen (Marshalltown, Iowa/East Marshall HS), James Croker (Iowa City, Iowa/City HS), Matt Jones (Davenport, Iowa/Assumption HS) and Eric Melloy (Mount Pleasant, Iowa/Mount Pleasant HS).

On the team side, Wartburg’s women finished in ninth place with 26.0 points. Central finished 17th with 16.0 points, Buena Vista and Coe were among eight schools tied for 56th (3.0 points), Loras and Upper Iowa were among 12 schools tied for 64th (2.0 points) and Luther was among six schools tied for 78th (1.0 points). Wheaton (Mass.) College won its third straight National Championship with 72 points.

On the men’s side, Wartburg finished 11th with 17.0 points. Central was among three schools tied for 27th with 11.0 points. Loras tied five other schools for 36th place (8.0 points), Coe tied for 54th (5.0 points) and Simpson was one of six schools tied for 66th (1.0 points). University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse won its third straight National Championship with 88 points.

Other Iowa Conference performances at the National Championships on Saturday included: Coe’s Ann Gramkow (Avoca, Iowa/A-H-S-T HS), who finished eighth in her flight in the shot put (40-11.5); Dubuque’s Basil Steele (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia HS), who placed ninth in the 110-meter hurdles (15.04); and a quartet of Loras athletes – Murphy, who placed ninth in the 1500-meters (3:51.87); John Reilly (Marshalltown, Iowa/East Marshall HS), who finished sixth in his flight in the shot put (51-4.5); Megan Medinger (Camanche, Iowa/Camanche HS), who finished 10th in her flight in the shot put (38-10.25) and Kourtney Kelso (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Kennedy HS), who did not record a height in the high jump.

All told, 60 different Iowa Conference student-athletes competed in 31 events at the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships. Their complete results can be found here - men/women.

Complete National Championship results can be found here - men/women.

A complete list of the 2003 Iowa Conference Outdoor Track and Field All-Americans can be found here - men/women

-30-