St. Norbert's Graybill Does It Again - Claims NCAA 800-Meter Outdoor Championship
De Pere, Wis. - Ashley Graybill (right) won her second national championship of the 2009 track and field
season with a rousing win of the 800-meter run at the NCAA Division III Outdoor
Championships at Marietta College's Don Drumm Stadium.
Graybill, who won the indoor 800-meter championship in March, won a strongly contested race. Graybill's school-record time of 2 minutes 9.18 seconds clipped The College of New Jersey's Jianna Spadacinni at the finish line, with Spadacinni finishing in 2:09.37. UW-Platteville's Jessica Scott, the runner-up to Graybill at this year's indoor meet, was third in 2:09.83.
St. Norbert track and field coach Don Augustine said Graybill was fifth with about 200 meters to go before an impressive finishing kick was the impetus to Graybill's win.
"She was about three wide on the outside with about 100 meters to go and she took off," Augustine said. "She passed the pack with about 80 meters to go and held on from there."
Graybill was the final qualifier into the eight-person finals after a time of 2:12.84 during Friday's trials, but became the first St. Norbert College track and field athlete to win national championships during both indoor and outdoor seasons. The national title in the outdoor 800 for Graybill was St. Norbert's first in outdoor track and field. Other than Graybill's two championships, Laura Salm's national titles in the indoor high jump in 1991 and 1993 are the only women's track and field national championships in St. Norbert history.
St. Norbert recorded a top-10 team finish, placing in a tie for tenth with 20 points. The Green Knights, who finished eighth at the NCAA indoor meet in March, recorded their two highest team finishes in school history this season.
Ripon's Baerenwald Finishes Third In Shot Put At Nationals
Ripon, Wis. - Heidi Baerenwald (right) may only be in her first year of collegiate track and field, but the freshman from Appleton, Wis. proved on Saturday that she can compete with anyone. As the only representative from Ripon College at this weekend's 2009 Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Baerenwald finished third in the shot put with a school record throw of 46-06.75, which earns her honors as a 2009 All-American.
Baerenwald's third-place throw was five feet off the pace of the winner of the event and eight inches behind the second place competitor. Baerenwald recorded the top throw of any Wisconsin athlete in the shot put at Nationals, while also throwing further than anyone from the Midwest Conference. She was the only freshman to qualify for the finals on Saturday.
Her throw breaks Ripon's previous mark, which was set by Baerenwald earlier this year, by eleven inches. During the outdoor season, Baerenwald finished in the top three in all eight of the meets she competed, including six first-place finishes.
Carroll's O'Grady Takes Second In 5,000 Meter Run
Waukesha, Wis. - Freshman Megan O'Grady (right) finished as the runner-up in the 5,000 meter run to earn All-American honors at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
O'Grady made it a clean sweep for Carroll, who had three women's participants in the three-day meet, with each earning All-American in their event.
Freshman Amanda Trieloff finished eighth in the javelin throw on Thursday while junior Rebecca Grafenauer tied for fifth place in the pole vault on Friday.
O'Grady clocked a time of 17:19.83 and was less than six seconds off the National Championship pace set by senior Ayla Mitchell of UW-Oshkosh (17:14.52).
St. Norbert's Scherer Earns Second Outdoor All-American Finish of 2009
De Pere, Wis. - St. Norbert junior Jenny Scherer, who entered the 5,000-meter run as the 11th seed out of 18 entrants, finished fourth for her second All-America honor of the outdoor championships. Scherer also placed fourth in the 10,000-meter run on Thursday.
Scherer ran a time of 17:23.22 in temperatures soaring over 80 degrees. UW-Oshkosh's Ayla Mitchell won the event with a time of 17:14.52, while Carroll University's Megan O'Grady was second in 17:19.83. Carleton College's Simone Childs-Walker was third in 17:22.45.
St. Norbert's Schneider Finishes Sixth at NCAA 400-Meter Outdoor Championship
De Pere, Wis. - Dann Schneider (right) picked up his second All-America honor of the 2009 track and field season with a sixth-place finish in the 400-meter dash at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship at Marietta College's Don Drumm Stadium.
Schneider ran a time of 48.60 for his sixth-place finish. McMurray University's Hanneus Ollison won the national championship with a time of 46.65 seconds.
Schneider, a sophomore from Wausau, Wis., placed eighth in the 400 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championship in March.
Three Scots Are All-Americans, Monmouth Runs Streak To 25 Years
Monmouth, Ill. - The last time Monmouth College didn’t have a track athlete earn All-American status, President Ronald Reagan was seeking a second term. The Scots continued their streak when three more athletes earned All-American status at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio.
Shannon Turczyn (Peru, Ill./LaSalle-Peru) earned her fourth straight All-American designation in the 100-meter hurdles and Logan Hohl (Orion, Ill./Orion) picked up his first outdoor All-American honor in the 400-meter hurdles. Turczyn and Hohl joined Tanesha Hughes (Peoria, Ill./Woodruff) as the latest Fighting Scots to earn All-American status. Friday, Hughes wrapped up her discus career with a fourth-place finish, gaining All-American status for the first time in three trips to the National Championships in the event. Her discus throw of 150’5” was just seven inches out of a third-place finish.
Turczyn (left) made the 100-hurdles finals for the fourth time and finished fifth for the third time. The senior clocked a 14.46 in the final race of her career. Her time was just a half-second out of second place. Sumer Rohrs of Frostburg State successfully defended her national title, breaking the tape in 13.77. Turczyn, who picked up her first indoor All-American award in March in the 55-meter hurdles, ends her career as a five-time All-American.
Hohl (right), who has two indoor All-American awards in the 4x400 relay, placed sixth in the 400-meter hurdles to earn his first outdoor All-American award. His time of 53.66 was just over a second out of fourth place. Cory Beebe of Salisbury University won the event in 51.28.
Carroll's Grafenauer Ties For Fifth In Pole Vault
Waukesha, Wis. - Carroll's Rebecca Grafenauer (right) finished in a tie for fifth place in the pole vault to give the Pioneers their second consecutive All-American performance at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Yesterday, Amanda Trieloff earned All-American honors when she claimed eighth place in the javelin throw.
Grafenauer captured her first All-American award with a successful vault of 12 feet, six and one quarter inches.
Illinois College’s Norville Finishes Seventh In Heptathlon
Jacksonville, Ill. - Illinois College junior Candace Norville (right) earned a seventh-place finish Friday (May 22) in the women’s heptathlon at the 2009 NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Marietta College.
The Batavia native finished with 4,450 points after the last of seven individual events. Ashley Huston of Hardin-Simmons University won the heptathlon with 5,242 points.
Norville saved her best performance of the two-day competition for the final event and finished sixth in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:22.85. That effort enabled her to move up from ninth place, past Leah Kay of Concordia Morehead who finished eighth with 4,538 points and Caitlin McGrane of the University of Puget Sound who had 4,367 points. Norville trailed sixth-place Courtney Hartman of Bridgewater College by just six points.
The Illinois College junior started competition Thursday by placing 14 th in the 100 meter hurdles in 15.98. Before the day was over, Norville finished ninth in the high jump (5-1), ninth in the shot put (34-0) and eighth in the 200 meter dash (26.85).
She recorded a leap of 16-4.25 in the long jump and finished 10 th in that event Friday morning before finishing ninth in the javelin with a toss of 106-1.
Monmouth’s Hughes Claims First All-American Title
Monmouth , Ill. - Monmouth College thrower Tanesha Hughes (Peoria, Ill./Woodruff) earned her first All-American award in her final season at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio.
Hughes (right), who entered the discus competition with the nation’s top throw, finished her discus career with a throw of 150’5”. The senior’s toss placed her fourth and gained her All-American status for the first time in three trips to the National Championships. Hughes was just seven inches out of a third-place finish. UW-Oshkosh’s Ellie Sitek won the discus competition with a throw of 157’3”. Hughes will make her first national appearance in the shot put Saturday afternoon.
St. Norbert's Scherer Named All-American After Fourth Place Finish In 10k
St. Norbert's Jenny Scherer (right) started out on the right foot in the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, earning All-American honors in the 10k run.
The junior from Delavan, Wis. (Delavan-Darien) finished fourth out of 17 runners with a time of 35:48.84. Scherer finished only 1.90 seconds out of third place and 2.22 seconds behind second. Williams' Lauren Philbrook won the race with a time of 35:24.78.
In 2008, Sherer set the MWC Championship 10k record (36:27.59) and two weeks ago won the 2009 version with a time of 37:31.60.
Carroll's Trieloff Earns All-American Status In The Javelin Throw
Waukesha, Wis. - Carroll University's Amanda Trieloff (right) kicked off the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in strong fashion by earning All-American honors in the javelin. Javelin is the first competition conducted at the meet.
The freshman from Lake Mills, Wis. (Lake Mills High School) entered the meet with the 12th best throw of the 2009 season but climbed to eighth place in the finals (top eight named All-American) with a distance of 137' 2".
Two weeks ago Trieloff captured the Midwest Conference Championship in the javelin with a throw of 128' 4".
Carroll will have two more competitors in the three-day Championship meet. Junior Rebecca Grafenauer competes in the pole vault on Friday followed by freshman Megan O'Grady competing in the 5,000 meter run on Saturday.
14 MWC Athletes Set To Compete At 2009 NCAA Outdoor T&F Championships
14 student-athletes from Six Midwest Conference institutions are preparing to take part in the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, scheduled for Thursday-Saturday, May 21-23.
MWC Men's and Women's Champion Monmouth leads the pack, sending four athletes including Tanesha Hughes (discus; shot put), Shannon Turczyn (100m hurdles), Gloria Lehr (discus), and Logan Hohl (400m hurdles). Carroll and St. Norbert will each be sending a trio of qualifiers. Rebecca Grafenauer (pole), Megan
O'Grady (5,000m), and Amanda Trieloff (javelin), will represent the Pioneers, while Dann Schneider (400m), Ashley Graybill (800m), and Jenny Scherer (5,000m; 10,000m) represent the Green Knights. Graybill is the reigning Indoor National Champion in the 800-meter run.
Illinois College will be sending D.J. Jackson (100m; 200m; long) and Candace Norville (heptathlon) with Lawrence's Madeline Steininger (high) and Ripon's Heidi Baerenwald (shot put) being the lone representatives from their respective institutions.
Monmouth , Ill. - When the dust settled Saturday afternoon at the Midwest Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Waukesha, Wis., the Monmouth College men had claimed their ninth consecutive conference title and the women their fifth straight.
Strong performances in the women’s field events Friday set the stage for the Fighting Scots’ women to run away from the pack on Saturday. The women outdistanced runner-up Carroll University 254-172. Monmouth’s men were in second after Friday’s first round, but sprinted past second-place Illinois College for the title 194-145.
Monmouth Men & Women Look To Continue Title Streaks In Waukesha
This weekend will mark the 87th edition of the Midwest Conference’s oldest competitive tradition. Carroll University will play host to all nine of the conference’s outdoor track & field teams as both the men’s and women’s squads meet to battle for top conference honors at the 2009 Midwest Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships. This weekend’s festivities are scheduled to begin Friday, May 8th and conclude Saturday, May 9th in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Appleton, Wis. - Lawrence University assistant track and field coach Amy Woodman (right) won
the long jump at the prestigious Drake Relays on Saturday, April 25. The native of Bristol, England, and the reigning United Kingdom indoor champion, jumped 20 feet, 11.75 inches. Woodman, a former NCAA indoor
champion in the long jump, is attempting to make the British Olympic team with an eye on competing at the 2012 games in London.
Monmouth, Ill. - Monmouth College’s Tanesha Hughes automatically qualified for next month’s NCAA Outdoor Championships and Tyler Hannam cleared his first provisional height at last weekend’s Augustana Meet of Champions where the women were second and the men fourth.
Hughes, a senior thrower from Peoria, Ill., won the discus with a school-record and automatic-qualifying mark of 164’6”. All five of her throws bettered the automatic mark and her winning throw leads the nation by more than 10’.
Hannam, a sophomore jumper from Woodhull, took second in the high jump with a provisional height of 6’8”. His season-best mark leads the Midwest Conference and ranks him twelfth nationally.
Hurlebaus, Fendryk, O'Grady Add To Carroll Record Book
Waukesha, Wis. - It seems as though every track and field meet this season, both indoor and outdoor, has spawned a new addition to the Carroll University record book. Saturday's Benedictine University Invitational was no exception.
Senior Josh Hurlebaus uprooted R.J. Hoppe and Adam Smiley with the fasted 100 meter dash time in school history while fellow senior Amanda Fendryk and freshman Megan O'Grady bettered their school record in the hammer throw and 5,000 meter run, respectively.
Hurlebaus clocked a 10.54 in the 100 meter dash, topping the 10.63 run by Hoppe in 1997 and Smiley in 1998. The 10.54 is an NCAA automatic qualifying time, giving Carroll at least two representatives at the National Championship meet - Hurlebaus and pole vault sensation, Rebecca Grafenauer.
Both Fendryk and O'Grady set new school records in their respective event two weeks ago at the UW-Oshkosh Invitational. Fendryk's throw on Saturday - 141' 8" - was three inches farther than her record throw at Oshkosh.
O'Grady shaved a little more than two seconds off of her 5,000 meter record, posting a 17:23.35 at Benedictine, giving her an NCAA provisional qualifying time. She clocked a 17:25.94 two weeks ago.
Grinnell's Willie Stewart Qualifies For Drake Relays
Grinnell, Iowa - Grinnell College’s Willie Stewart has qualified for the prestigious Drake Relays, where he’ll participate in the university/college division javelin competition on Friday.
Of the 25 qualifiers for the event, which is contested at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Stewart (Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell HS) is one of just two NCAA Division III athletes. All of the others compete at the Division I level except one, who is a Division II athlete.
The senior, who has thrown 191 feet, 11 inches this season, is in the first of two flights for the event that begins at 10:30 a.m.
Carroll's Grafenauer Earns Trip To Nationals
Waukesha, Wis. - Just two weeks into the outdoor track and field season, the Carroll University women are already guaranteed at least one representative at the season-ending National Championship meet.
Junior Rebecca Grafenauer (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) won the pole vault event at the UW-Whitewater Invitational with a school-record and automatic qualifying height of 12' 9 ½". She shattered her previous school record of 12' ½" set at the 2008 Midwest Conference Championship meet. Grafenauer finished 14th at last year's NCAA finals.
Records Fall For Scots At Season Opening Meet
Monmouth, Ill. - Nearly a month off between the indoor and outdoor seasons had no ill effect on the Monmouth College women’s and men’s track teams which placed second and seventh, respectively at last weekend’s 21-team Washington University Invitational in St. Louis, Mo.
Competing outdoors for the first time this season, the Fighting Scots provisionally qualified two women’s throwers and one men’s hurdler.
Tanesha Hughes led the charge with a pair of firsts and provisionally qualified in two events while breaking a school record. The senior won the shot put with a school-record and provisional mark of 44’5-1/2”. Gloria Lehr placed second with a put of 42’5-1/4” – also a provisional distance.
On the men’s side, Logan Hohl punched his provisional ticket to the national outdoor meet. The sophomore placed third in the 400- hurdles with a provisional qualifying time of 53.71, just .10 off the lead.
Carroll Adds Kevin Trigonis To Football/Track And Field Staffs
Waukesha, Wis. - Kevin Trigonis (right) has joined the coaching staff at Carroll University, athletic director Kris Jacobsen announced.
Trigonis will be an assistant coach for the Carroll football (offensive line) and track and field (throwers) programs.
The Halfmoon, N.Y. native joins the Pioneers staff from Amherst College where he was also a football and track and field assistant coach.
Trigonis began his coaching career as a student-assistant football coach at St. Lawrence University, his alma mater. He then became the offensive line coach at Salve Regina University in 2006 before moving on to Amherst a year later.
Victor Finch Tabbed As Lawrence Track & Field/XC Coach
Victor Finch (right), the head track and field coach at Ferris State University, is the new head cross country and track & field coach at Lawrence University. Finch's hiring was announced Thursday by co-Interim Director of Athletics Chris Howard.
A native of Midland, Mich., Finch brings two decades of coaching experience at the NCAA Division I level to the job. Finch also has coached two Olympic sprinters who ran in a combined three Olympic Games (1988, 1996, 2000).
A graduate of Indiana State University, Finch majored in physical education and starred in cross country and track and field for the Sycamores.
Finch began his coaching career at Southwestern Michigan College, where he coached sprinter Laurel Johnson. Johnson was a national champion in Jamaica in the 100 and 200 meters and competed in the 1988 Olympics. Finch then served as an assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level at Indiana State, Eastern Michigan University, and Michigan State University and also coached at Northwood University, a NCAA Division II school.
In one season as the head coach at Ferris State, Finch recruited and coached Amy Woodman to the 2008 NCAA title in the long jump. Ferris State had a school-record seven national qualifiers in 2008. In addition to his track and field duties, Finch was the assistant men's and women's cross country coach at both Northwood and Ferris State. In one season with the cross country squads at Ferris, both teams saw dramatic improvements in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
De Pere, Wis. - Ashley Graybill 
the first St. Norbert College track and field athlete to win national championships during both indoor and outdoor seasons. The national title in the outdoor 800 for Graybill was St. Norbert's first in outdoor track and field. Other than Graybill's two championships, Laura Salm's national titles in the indoor high jump in 1991 and 1993 are the only women's track and field national championships in St. Norbert history.
Ripon, Wis. - 
Waukesha, Wis. - Freshman Megan O'Grady 
De Pere, Wis. - St. Norbert junior Jenny Scherer, who entered the 5,000-meter run as the 11th seed out of 18 entrants, finished fourth for her second All-America honor of the outdoor championships. Scherer also placed fourth in the 10,000-meter run on Thursday.
De Pere, Wis. - Dann Schneider 
time and finished fifth for the third time. The senior clocked a 14.46 in the final race of her career. Her time was just a half-second out of second place. Sumer Rohrs of Frostburg State successfully defended her national title, breaking the tape in 13.77. Turczyn, who picked up her first indoor All-American award in March in the 55-meter hurdles, ends her career as a five-time All-American. 
Hohl 
Waukesha, Wis. - Carroll's Rebecca Grafenauer 
Jacksonville, Ill. - Illinois College junior Candace Norville
Monmouth , Ill. - Monmouth College thrower Tanesha Hughes (Peoria, Ill./Woodruff) earned her first All-American award in her final season at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio. 
Waukesha, Wis. - Carroll University's Amanda Trieloff 
Monmouth , Ill. - When the dust settled Saturday afternoon at the Midwest Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Waukesha, Wis., the Monmouth College men had claimed their ninth consecutive conference title and the women their fifth straight.
Monmouth, Ill. - Monmouth College’s Tanesha Hughes automatically qualified for next month’s NCAA Outdoor Championships and Tyler Hannam cleared his first provisional height at last weekend’s Augustana Meet of Champions where the women were second and the men fourth.
Waukesha, Wis. - It seems as though every track and field meet this season, both indoor and outdoor, has spawned a new addition to the Carroll University record book. Saturday's Benedictine University Invitational was no exception.
Grinnell, Iowa - Grinnell College’s Willie Stewart has qualified for the prestigious Drake Relays, where he’ll participate in the university/college division javelin competition on Friday.
Waukesha, Wis. - Kevin Trigonis 
& field coach at Lawrence University. Finch's hiring was announced Thursday by co-Interim Director of Athletics Chris Howard. 
