May 29, 2010

BEREA, OHIO . . . Defending NCAA women's champion Wartburg College closed out the 2010 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships in dramatic fashion Saturday, posting a national championship effort in the final event on the schedule at Baldwin-Wallace's Tressel Field at Finnie Stadium to vault into fourth place in the final team standings.

Entering the 4x400-meter relay in a tie for eighth place, the Knights' relay team of Nevada Morrison, Jenny Kordick, Chelsey Jacobs, and Faith Burt ran a Division III season-best time of 3 minutes, 43.35 seconds to push Wartburg into fourth place. It was Wartburg's fourth consecutive national title and seventh consecutive All-America honor in the event.

As a league, the Iowa Conference recorded the one national championship and a total of 29 All-America performances with seven individuals returning to the Hawkeye State with multiple All-America plaques for a top-8 finish.

Three members of the Knights' championship 4x400 relay also earned All-America honors in other events. Nevada Morrison placed sixth in the 400-meter dash and ran on Wartburg's runner-up 4x100 squad, Chelsey Jacobs ran fifth in the 400, and Jenny Kordick joined Morrison on the 4x100 relay. Simpson's Lauren Bucklin repeated as a two-time All-American in the hurdle events, placing fourth in the 100 hurdles and eighth in the 400 hurdles.

Simpson's Catie Ellingson added a runner-up finish in the 1,500-meter run, marking the second consecutive year she has earned All-America honors in the event.

Central's Ethan Miller, the co-Most Valuable Performer at the 2010 IIAC Outdoor Championships, placed fourth in the long jump and eighth in the decathlon. A bid for a third All-America honor fell by the wayside when he failed to clear a height in the high jump. Kyle Wood ran on both of Central's All-America relays, placing sixth in the 4x100 and eighth in the 4x400. Dubuque's Davivorn Dowe took eighth in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes.

In the team race, the seven other Iowa Conference schools represented at the Championships found their way into the final points standings behind the fourth-place Knights. Simpson placed 15th with 16 1/2 points, followed by Coe in 28th place with 11 points. Loras, Central, and Buena Vista each scored four points to tie for 49th place, while Luther tied for 54th place with three points and the University of Dubuque tied for 63rd place with two points. Illinois Wesleyan used a third-place finish in the 4x400 to overtake Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 54-53. MIT took third with 37 points, using a runner-up finish in the 4x400 to hold off Wartburg.

In the men's race, Central tied for 15th place with 14 points, followed by Cornell (tie-65th, 3 points), Dubuque (tie-71st, 2 points), and Wartburg (tie-77th, 1 point). North Central College outscored Salisbury, 52 to 36, to run away with the men's team title.

The Loras men also sent a representative 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-meter relay (Nevada Morrison, Chelsey Jacobs, Jenny Kordick, Hannah Baker) – National Champion (3:34.35); fourth consecutive national title and seventh consecutive All-America honor (All four runners on 2009 relay; Jacobs, Kordick, and Baker on 2008 relay; Jacobs and Baker on 2007 relay)
• Simpson's Catie Ellingson – 2nd in 1,500-meter run (4:27.23); second consecutive All-America honor for Ellingson in the 1,500.
• Wartburg's 4x100-meter relay (Jenny Kordick, Nevada Morrison, Jen Ganshirt, Faith Burt) – 2nd (46.10); fifth consecutive All-America honor (Kordick, Morrison, and Burt members of 2009 team; Kordick also ran on 2007 and 2008 teams)
• Coe's Keelie Finnel – 3rd in 400-meter dash (55.30)
• Simpson's Lauren Bucklin – 4th in 100-meter hurdles (14.12), 8th in 400-meter hurdles (69.76); third consecutive All-America honor for Bucklin in 100-meter hurdles; second consecutive All-America honor in 400-meter hurdles
• Wartburg's Chelsey Jacobs – 5th in 400-meter dash (55.81)
• Loras' Hannah Weiss – 5th in 800-meter run (2:11.99)
• Wartburg's Brittany Melloy – 5th in 400-meter hurdles (62.73)
• Buena Vista's Morgan Darrow – 5th in shot put (46-6 3/4; 14.19 meters)
• Central's Jill Ziskovsky – 5th in heptathlon (4,669 points)
• Simpson's Kinsey Bak – t-5th in high jump (5-5 3/4; 1.67 meters)
• Coe's Sara Heizer – 6th in 400-meter hurdles (62.99)
• Luther's Katie Dolan – 6th in 3,000-meter steeplechase (10:44.23)
• Wartburg's Nevada Morrison – 6th in 400-meter dash (55.84); second consecutive All-American honor for Morrison in the 400.
• Wartburg's Brittany Thomas – 6th in 100-meter hurdles (14.45)
• Wartburg's Nicole Calabrese – 7th in 800-meter run (2:12.79)
• Wartburg's Jennifer Kuiken – 7th in 1,500-meter run (4:29.88)
• Coe's Sarah Anciaux – 7th in shot put (45-8; 13.92 meters)
• Dubuque's Ebony Craig – 7th in triple jump (38-7 3/4; 11.78 meters)

MEN
• Central's Ethan Miller – 4th in long jump (23-7 1/2), 8th in decathlon (6,862 points)
• Central's Kurtis Brondyke – 5th in decathlon (6,962 points); second consecutive All-America honor for Brondyke in decathlon
• Cornell's James Wohrley – 6th in decathlon (6,959 points)
• Central's 4x100-meter relay (Mitch Morris, Logan Danko, Kyle Wood, Allen Scovell) – 6th (41.53)
• Dubuque's Davivorn Dowe – 8th in 100-meter dash (12.40); 8th in 200-meter dash (61.08)
• Wartburg's Russell Harris – 8th in 110-meter hurdles (15.33); second consecutive All-America honor for Harris in 110-meter hurdles
• Central's 4x400-meter relay (Kyle Wood, Jordan Gegner, Luke Bolander, Matt Patrick) – 8th (3:15.42)


OTHER IOWA CONFERENCE QUALIFIERS’ PERFORMANCES

WOMEN
• Wartburg's Faith Burt – 2nd in heat of 100-meter dash (12.12); 4th in heat of 200-meter dash (24.62)
• Wartburg's Jenny Kordick – 3rd in heat of 200-meter dash (24.89); 6th in heat of 400-meter dash (56.69)
• Wartburg's Nevada Morrison – 4th in heat of 200-meter dash (24.46)
• Dubuque's Bridget Hosley – 6th in heat of 200-meter dash (25.22)
• Wartburg's Hannah Baker – 4th in heat of 400-meter dash (56.25)
• Loras' Laura Rieger – 4th in heat of 800-meter run (2:12.05)
• Luther's Dani Meirick – 4th in heat of 800-meter run (2:13.86)
• Loras' Mary Bridget Corken – 11th in 1,500-meter run (4:35.24, made final)
• Wartburg's Anna Kraayenbrink – 14th in 5,000-meter run (17:57.37)
• Loras' Barb Kremer – 3rd in heat of 100-meter hurdles (14.32)
• Luther's Michelle Voigts – 5th in heat of 400-meter hurdles (63.40)
• Central's 1,600-meter relay (Jill Ziskovsky, Emily Teas, Sam Retz, Felicia Coleman) – 3rd in heat (3:51.45)
• Wartburg's Skye Morrison – 5th in flight of triple jump (37-9 1/4; 11.51 meters); 7th in flight of long jump (18-2 1/2; 5.54 meters)
• Simpson's Chelsey Degen – 5th in flight of discus throw (135-9; 41.38 meters)
• Coe's Sarah Anciaux – 6th in flight of discus throw (134-10; 41.11 meters)
• Luther's Lauren Boleen – 7th in flight of javelin throw (124-2; 37.85 meters)
• Wartburg's Amber Axon – t-11th in high jump (5-3 3/4; 1.62 meters)
• Central's Carissa Bentz – 9th in heptathlon (4,532 points)
• Central's Caitlin Wilson – 17th in heptathlon (3,690 points)

MEN
• Loras' Chris Swift – 4th in heatof 400-meter hurdles (53.12)
• Dubuque's 400-meter relay (Davivorn Dowe, Phillip Jones, Leonard Brady Jr., Ronnie Mirth) – 5th in heat (41.95)
• Central's Matt Graber – 9th in shot put (52-11 1/2; 16.14 meters)
• Central's Ethan Miller – failed to record a height in the high jump

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

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