March 13, 2010

GREENCASTLE, IND. . . . Wartburg College closed out the 2010 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships in dramatic fashion Saturday, posting a national championship effort in the final event on the schedule at DePauw University's Hollenmeister Track to cement the women's team title by a 33-29 margin over Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

Entering the 4x400-meter relay in third place behind Oshkosh and St. Lawrence and needing at least a third-place finish to tie for the title, the Knights' relay team of Nevada Morrison, Jenny Kordick, Chelsey Jacobs, and Faith Burt ran a Division III season-best time of 3 minutes, 48.73 seconds to push Wartburg to the top of the final team standings for the second consecutive season. It was Wartburg's second consecutive national title and ninth consecutive All-America honor in the event.

The team title is Wartburg's second in women's indoor track & field, the 11th by a Knights' squad, and the 26th overall by a school representing the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC).

As a league, the Iowa Conference recorded two national championships and 20 All-America performances with a trio of individuals returning to the Hawkeye State with multiple All-America plaques for a top-8 finish.

Wartburg's Skye Morrison, the 2010 Iowa Conference Most Valuable Performer, won the national title in the long jump with a leap of 18 feet, 9.25 inches, then followed it up with an eighth-place finish in the long jump.

In addition to anchoring Wartburg's champion 4x400 squad, Faith Burt also placed third in the 55-meter dash. It was Burt's second consecutive All-America honor in the 55. Chelsey Jacobs ran on Wartburg's sixth-place distance medley relay in addition to running on the 4x400 relay.

Central's Ethan Miller, the 2010 Iowa Conference Men's Most Valuable Performer, posted the best finish by an IIAC male with a third-place finish in the pentathlon.

In the team race, five other Iowa Conference schools found their way into the final points standings behind the champion Knights. Simpson tied for 19th place with 10 points, followed by Coe alone in 26th place with 8.5 points. Loras added 6 points for a tie for 36th place and Central posted 4 points for a tie for 46th place. Morgan Darrow's 8th place finish in the shot put gave Buena Vista one point and a tie for 59th place.

In the men's race, Central tied for 15th place with 11 points, followed by Dubuque (tie-43rd, 4 points), Wartburg (tie-50th, 3 points), and Cornell (tie-61st, 1 point). North Central College outscored Wisconsin-Stevens Point, 52 1/3 to 34, to run away with the men's team title.

The Dubuque women and Luther women also sent representatives to the National Championship Meet but failed to score in the team standings.

IIAC Results: Men | Women

IOWA CONFERENCE ALL-AMERICANS (top-8 finishers)

WOMEN
• Wartburg’s 4x400 relay (Nevada Morrison, Jenny Kordick, Chelsey Jacobs, Faith Burt) – National Champion (3:48.73), second consecutive NCAA title and ninth straight Wartburg 4x400 All-American honor (Morrison and Jacobs also members of 2009 relay team)
• Wartburg's Skye Morrison – National Champion in long jump (18-9 1/4; 5.72 meters)
• Wartburg’s Faith Burt – 3rd in 55-meter dash (7.08), second consecutive All-America honor in 55-meters
• Coe's Keelie Finnel – 3rd in 400-meter run (56.67)
• Simpson's Lauren Bucklin – 4th in 55-meter hurdles (8.20), third consecutive All-America honor in 55-meter hurdles
• Simpson's Kinsey Bak – t-3rd in high jump (5-5 1/4; 1.66 meters)
• Wartburg's Brittany Thomas – 6th in 55-meter hurdles (8.30)
• Central's Jill Ziskovsky – 5th in pentathlon (3,333 points)
• Wartburg’s distance medley relay (Amanda Kuiken, Chelsey Jacobs, Nicole Calabrese, Jennifer Kuiken) – 6th (11:59.25), third consecutive Wartburg DMR All-America honor (A. Kuiken and J. Kuiken members of 2008 and 2009 relay teams)
• Coe's Krystal Jackson – t-6th in high jump (5-5 1/4; 1.66 meters)
• Loras' Hannah Weiss – 7th in 800-meter run (2:13.81)
• Loras' Mary Bridget Corken – 7th in mile run (5:03.91)
• Loras' Barb Kremer – 7th in 55-meter hurdles (8.37)
• Wartburg's Skye Morrison – 8th in triple jump (37-5 3/4; 11.42 meters)
• Buena Vista's Morgan Darrow – 8th in shot put (45-3; 13.79 meters)

MEN
• Central's Ethan Miller – 3rd in pentathlon (3,602 points), second consecutive All-America honor in pentathlon
• Central's Matt Graber – 4th in shot put (54-9 1/2; 16.70 meters)
• Dubuque's Davivorn Dowe – 5th in 55-meter dash (6.46)
• Wartburg's Russell Harris – 6th in 55-meter hurdles (7.56)
• Cornell's James Wohrley – 8th in pentathlon (3,473 points)

OTHER IOWA CONFERENCE QUALIFIERS’ PERFORMANCES

WOMEN
• Dubuque's Bridget Hosley – 4th in heat of 55-meter dash (7.24)
• Wartburg's Jenny Kordick – 3rd in heat of 400-meter dash (57.36)
• Wartburg's Chelsey Jacobs – 2nd in heat of 400-meter dash (57.65)
• Wartburg's Nevada Morrison – 4th in heat of 400-meter dash (57.96)
• Wartburg's Skye Morrison – 3rd in heat of 400-meter dash (58.18)
• Simpson's Catie Ellingson – 5th in heat of 800-meter run (2:15.20)
• Simpson's Sarah Hammel – 6th in heat of 800-meter run (2:15.43)
• Luther's Dani Meirick – 5th in heat of 800-meter run (2:17.07)
• Wartburg's Anna Kraayenbrink – 10th in 5,000-meter run (17:30.85)
• Wartburg's Stephanie Carroll – 7th in heat of 55-meter hurdles (8.50)
• Central's 4x400-meter relay (Jill Ziskovsky, Emily Teas, Sam Retz, Felicia Coleman) – 10th (3:58.16)
• Central's Carissa Bentz – 10th in pentathlon (3,228 points)
• Simpson's Kinsey Bak – 11th in pentathlon (3,163 points)
• Wartburg's Brittany Melloy – 14th in pentathlon (3,016 points)

MEN
• Dubuque's Philip Jones – 5th in heat of 55-meter dash (6.54)
• Dubuque's Ronnie Mirth – 6th in heat of 55-meter dash (6.61)
• Central's Ethan Miller – 6th in flight of long jump (21-9 1/2; 6.64 meters)
• Central's Kurtis Brondyke – Retired after two events of pentathlon

Complete NCAA Championship results can be found here: MEN and WOMEN

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