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Ohio State Men And Penn State Women Top Big Ten Finishers At NCAA Championships
June 12, 2004
AUSTIN, Texas - In the final day of competition at the 2004 NCAA Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships Saturday, seven Big Ten programs finished in the top 35, including two top-10 finishers in the Ohio State and Wisconsin men's programs. The Buckeyes led all Conference men's teams, finishing tied for fourth, while the Wisconsin men finished 10th. Minnesota was 15th and Indiana placed 19th. On the women's side, Penn State led all Big Ten squads with a 21st-place finish, while Michigan State and Ohio State tied for 32nd. The following are brief recaps of each school's performances on Saturday: ILLINOIS Illinois' men's and women's track teams closed out competition at the NCAA Championships with each team having two athletes earn All-America accolades. For the men, Adrian Walker and Abe Jones finished seventh and eighth in the 400m hurdles to earn that distinction while Carlene Robinson was seventh in the 800m and Cassie Hunt took 10th in the 3,000m steeplechase. In track and field, there are two ways to be honored as an All-American, either by finishing in the top-eight in an event or by being one of the top eight American finishers in an event.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INDIANA
A trio of Hoosier men received the prestigious All-American honor to help Indiana to its best finish since 1994, taking a 19th-place finish overall with 16 points. Junior Aarik Wilson had the highest finish of any Hoosier, taking a runner-up finish in the triple jump. In doing so, Wilson not only turned in a career-best, but broke his own school record with a leap of 16.93m (55-06.50). David Neville earned the second All-American honor of his career after he finished seventh overall in the 400-meter dash with the second fastest time of his career 45.31 and Chris Powers nabbed the last spot on the All-American list in the 5000-meter, finishing ninth with a time of 14:24.99.
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IOWA Shellene Williams finished her outstanding Hawkeye career by placing sixth in the 400 meters with a time of 51.94. Her time broke the school record of 52.41 that she set at the NCAA regional meet this year and is the fastest 400 meter time of her career. Williams made her mark in Iowa track history, becoming only the third Hawkeye to win four Big Ten titles during a career. She holds school records in both the 200 and 400 meters as well. Sophomore Adam Hamilton placed 10th in the hammer throw with a mark of 206-09 (63.02 meters). His throw was both a season and collegiate-best mark. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MICHIGAN Two Wolverines earned All-America honors as Lindsey Gallo was fourth in the women's 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:15.33, which brought the number of All-Americans on the women's side to three. Andrew Ellerton captured fifth place in the men's 800 meters, clocking in at 1:47.29 as just 0.60 separated third place from eighth. The women tied for 41st (five points); the men tied for 50th (four). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MICHIGAN STATE Senior Sherita Williams became the second member of the Michigan State women's track and field team to earn All-American honors this season, placing eighth in the triple jump. Williams, who also earned All-American status in 2002, joined senior Jamie Krzyminski, who finished third in the 10,000 Thursday, as an All-American this season. The top ten American finishers receive All-American recognition. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MINNESOTA The storied collegiate careers of Minnesota sprinters Mitch Potter and Adam Steele drew to a close with a record-breaking and All-America performance by the duo and teammates Robb Merritt and Aaron Buzard in the 4x400-meter relay. The Golden Gophers placed second in the relay for the second year in a row. Minnesota posted a time of 3 minutes, 1.80 seconds and was edged by Baylor, who ran a time of 3:01.03. The Gophers' mark broke the record of 3:02.33 at last year's NCAA meet. For Potter and Steele, the All-America honor is the third in the relay at the outdoor national meet. The All-America honor is the first in the event for Merritt, a junior, and Buzard, a freshman. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OHIO STATE Five Buckeyes gained All-America status Saturday, raising the OSU total to seven for the event. Senior Dan Taylor scored a runner-up finish in the shot put and a third-place standing in the hammer to score 14 team points for the men's squad, which placed in a tie for fourth with 30 team points . The women finished in a tie for 32nd with seven points after juniors Rosalind Goodwin and Keturah Lofton each scored in the triple jump and hammer. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PENN STATE Senior Connie Moore, who finished third the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championships and won back-to-back East Regional titles at 200 meters, finished fifth in the 200-meter final in a time of 23.05. She added the 200 meter finish to her seventh place finish in the 100 meters on Friday night to close out her collegiate career with a Penn State women's track and field record 11 All-America titles. Senior Chi-Chi Aduba capped off her stellar Penn State career earning the fifth All-America title of her career with a seventh place finish in the triple jump. The 2004 Big Ten and NCAA East Regional runner-up in the event, Aduba bettered her own Penn State record with her first attempt on a hot Texas afternoon putting down a mark of 44-6 3/4. MORE on Moore>>> MORE on Aduba>>>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PURDUE Shaun Guice and Amber Ferner earned All-America honors Saturday evening, as Guice finished sixth in the men's high jump and Ferner was seventh in the women's 3000 steeplechase. Also competing in finals action on Saturday was Keith McBride, who placed 12th in the men's hammer throw. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISCONSIN For the second time this season, the University of Wisconsin men's track and field team tied for 10th at an NCAA Championship. The Badgers tied for 10th at the 2004 indoor national meet with 19 points and equaled that effort with a 22-point, 10th-place tie at the outdoor meet this weekend. The Badger women tied for 48th with four points thanks to a fifth-place finish from Hilary Edmondson in the 1500 meters. Edmondson crossed in 4:16.64. The Wisconsin men scored and earned All-America honors in all three events in which they had competitors on the final day of the championships. |
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