May
21, 2009
(portions
courtesy of Steven Phelps, Buena Vista University sports information,
and Mark Adkins, Wartburg College sports information)
MARIETTA,
OHIO . . . It was a clean Division III sweep in the
long jump for Buena Vista senior Eric Bertelsen
(Polk City, Iowa/North Polk) in 2009, as he took the title in
the event during day one of the NCAA Outdoor Championships on
Thursday with a leap of 24' 2 1/2" (7.38m), breaking the
34-year old stadium record of 24' 1". Earlier this year,
he captured the national title during indoor competition.
Bertelsen,
who placed sixth in the event a season ago (6.96m) competed
in the second of two flights and qualified to the finals with
his best trial jump of 22' 5 1/4" (6.84m), which was the
shortest mark among all the finalist.
He
then stepped up his game once finals started, winning the event
by 10 inches. The victory makes him the first Beaver outdoor
national champion since Jessica Jensen won
the 400 hurdles back in 2002 and just the sixth overall since
1989.
In
addition to the long jump, he also ran the anchor leg on the
team's 4x100 meter relay, which failed to qualify for the finals
after posting a time of 42.05 and placing third in the second
of three heats. He later ran in the prelims of the 200 meter
dash and missed qualifying for the finals by 0.01 seconds after
running 21.78 seconds.
Wartburg's
Chenoweth Third in 10K; Women's Relays Set Division III Season
Bests in Prelims
Wartburg College senior Brian Chenoweth
of Geneseo, Ill., took third in the final of the men’s
10,000-meter run Thursday, May 21, to spotlight a strong first
day of action for the Knights’ men’s and women’s
teams.
Chenoweth
completed the lone running final on the men’s first day
competition in 30:58.62. Ricky Flynn of Lynchburg
nudged him for runner-up honors, ending in 30:57.71, while UW-Oshkosh’s
Willie Kaul, who entered the race with the
top qualifying time in the field, won in 30:54.56. Chenoweth’s
top three effort in the 10,000 marked the second successive
year a Knights’ men’s runner has finished the same
area as former standout Kevin Balster was runner-up in 2008.
For
the women, three of the Orange and Black’s four races
made it into Saturday’s finals. The 4x100 meter relay
squad of freshmen Faith Burt of Cedar Falls
and Nevada Morrison of Chicago, Ill., junior
Jenny Kordick of Truro and senior Kelsey
Steffens of DeWitt set a new school record in 43.76
seconds, the fastest qualifying mark in the preliminaries. The
4x400 meter relay crew of Nevada Morrison,
junior Chelsey Jacobs of Allison, Kordick and
junior Hannah Baker of Keota also set a new
school standard, turning in the top preliminary effort of 3:43.74.
Burt added the other finals entrance with a time of 24.79 seconds
in the 200.
Elsewhere
on the track, both Coe's Ashley Schnell (4:33.23;
2nd in heat) and Simpson's Catie Ellingson
(4:33.59; 4th in heat) both advanced to Saturday's 1,500-meter
run final and Simpson's Lauren Bucklin (61.92
seconds; 5th in heat) advanced to the 400-meter hurdle final
after preliminary runs Thursday.
2009
NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships Website
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