TWO FERRIS WOMEN'S TRACK ATHLETES EARN ALL-AMERICA HONORS

Amy Woodman Captures National Championship In The Long Jump At NCAA-II Meet

Woodman captured the national championship in the long jump during Friday's (March 14) opening day of action. She Woodman registered the meet's best mark of 19-6 on her first jump of the competition, which ended up being one and three-quarters inches better than runner-up Kirby Blackley (19-4.25) of Findlay. Woodman topped the field of 15 jumpers and earned All-America recognition in her first trip to the national meet while competing in the first of two flights.

Amy Woodman

Kamitra Carroll

Meanwhile, Carroll earned All-America accolades in the women's shot put on the final day of action Saturday (March 15) at the national indoor meet. She took seventh place in the event at the national meet with a toss of 46-6. Sheena Devine of Bemidji State (Minn.) won the field of 15 throwers with a top toss of 52-2.50 in Saturday's competition.

The top eight finishers in each respective event earn All-America plaudits at the national meet.

Both Carroll and Woodman also competed in one other event each on Friday. Carroll placed 13th of 15 throwers in the weight throw with a top toss of 53-1.50 in the event. Woodman also competed in the preliminary round of the 200 meters, but failed to reach the finals with a time of 26.06, ranking 19th of 20 competitors.

The Bulldog women's indoor squad, by virtue of Woodman's 10 points in the long jump and Carroll's two points in the shot put, were in fourth place overall in the team standings following the conclusion of five events at the national meet before coming in 15th overall in the final team standings with 12 points. The Bulldogs had been ranked 29th in the USTFCCCA Division II Coaches Power Rankings under head coach Jeff Kavalunas going into the national meet.

Woodman's title effort in the long jump represented the first time a Bulldog women's track and field athlete had ever claimed a national championship in either indoor or outdoor competition. The previous best performance was Carroll's runner-up performance in the weight throw at last year's national indoor meet in Boston, Mass. The last Ferris track athlete to claim a national crown prior to Woodman was former men's standout thrower Paul Cochran, who won a combined three national titles in the throwing events at the 1990 indoor and outdoor championships. He was the only Bulldog competitor to ever claim a national track and field crown at the NCAA level before Woodman's performance on Friday.

"It felt amazing to win the national title," Woodman said after her performance on Friday. "I'm from England and they don't have anything like this back home."

Woodman, who is in her first season with FSU after transferring from the University of Wales, posted a school-record leap of 19-10.75 in the long jump earlier this year at the Eastern Michigan Classic (Feb. 16) in Ypsilanti, Mich. Woodman claimed first place at the meet in a field of 34 jumpers, which included a number of student-athletes from NCAA Division I schools such as Michigan, Michigan State, Western Michigan and Central Michigan. Her record-breaking mark bettered the second-place performance by 11 inches at the EMU Classic. Her showing in the event at the EMU Classic enabled her to enter Friday's national meet with the top overall performance in the long jump this campaign.

The Bulldog newcomer previously paced the FSU women's team by placing among the top eight finishers in four events at this year's Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championships (Feb. 29-March 1) held in Findlay, Ohio. She captured All-GLIAC honors with a third-place finish in the long jump (18-3.25) and also placed fifth in the 55 meters (7.40), sixth in the 200 meters (25.89) along with sixth in the triple jump (34-9.50). Blackley won this year's league crown in the long jump before Woodman came back to edge her at the national championships. Entering the national meet, Woodman's 19-10.75 effort in the long jump was six inches better than the second-place individual on the NCAA-II listing, which happened to be Blackley.

Carroll previously earned 2007 NCAA-II Indoor All-America kudos in both the weight throw and shot put following her performances at the national indoor meet last year (3/9-10) in Boston. She claimed national runner-up honors in the weight throw last year during the opening day of action (3/9) with a best toss of 59-4 in the event. Carroll, who was FSU's lone participant a year ago in the NCAA-II Indoor Championships, then placed sixth overall in the shot put with a top toss of 46-5.50 on the final day (3/10).

In 2006, Carroll took ninth place overall among 18 throwers in the women's shot put at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships (May 26-27) on Emporia State's (Kan.) Zola Witten Track inside Fran Welch Stadium at Emporia, Kan. Her best toss of 46-4.75 fell one spot short of earning All-America accolades. During the 2005-06 season, Carroll was also named the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region Women's Indoor Field Event Athlete Of The Year as announced by the USTFCCCA. She placed 11th overall in the shot put competition at the national indoor meet in 2006 with a toss of 45-2.50 in the final round of the event at Boston's Reggie Lewis Center. Carroll surpassed national qualification marks this year while coming in fourth in the shot put (45-8) and sixth in the weight throw (57-7) among a field of high-caliber throwers at the 2008 GLIAC Indoor Championships.

The complete USTFCCCA All-America Team can be found at this link:
USTFCCCA All-America Team (PDF)

More information & results from the NCAA-II Championships can be found at this link:
NCAA-II Championships Website