THREE FERRIS TRACK ATHLETES HEADED TO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Bulldog Group Will Compete At This Weekend's Meet In Houston

Two FSU seniors in Mikinzie Stuart (Saginaw/Nouvel) and Matt Jozwiak (Berkley) along with sophomore Tina Muir (St. Albans, U.K.) were chosen to compete in a single event each at the national meet.

Mikinzie Stuart

Tina Muir

Matt Jozwiak

The final meet participants were announced recently by the NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Committee. A total of nearly 400 student-athletes qualified for the meet by reaching the automatic or provisional standards established for each event. The University of Houston will serve as hosts of the championships with the track and field action taking place in Yeoman Field House. The top eight finishers in each event will earn All-America recognition.

Stuart will open action for Ferris State on Friday (March 13) at 5 p.m. (EDT) as she takes part in the first of two qualifying heats in the women's mile run. Her seed time of 4:57.94 is the seventh-fastest among the 14 runners who will compete in the two heats at the national meet. The top three finishers from each section along with the next best three overall will advance to Saturday's (March 14) final, which begins at 4:30 p.m. (EDT).

Muir holds the ninth-best (16:57.70) overall time of 16 individuals who will take part in the women's 5,000 meters. The race will be a one section final on Saturday starting at 6:35 p.m. (EDT).

Finally, Jozwiak will take part in the men's 800 meters and has the sixth-best (1:52.11) qualifying time of the 15 runners in the field. He will run in the second of two heats on Friday at 6:45 p.m. (EDT) with the top three finishers from each section and the next three fastest times advancing to Saturday's final at 5:40 p.m. (EDT).

Stuart previously claimed indoor All-America accolades in 2006 as a member of FSU's record-setting distance medley relay team. It will mark both Jozwiak's and Muir's initial appearances at the national track and field championships although Muir claimed All-America honors last fall by finishing 12th overall at the NCAA-II National Cross Country Championships held in Slippery Rock, Pa.

The Bulldog women's indoor track and field team finished fourth with 51 points at last weekend's Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Indoor Championships held in University Center, Mich. The men's team placed ninth overall with 11 points under interim head coach Steve Picucci, who is currently guiding both programs.

Muir was the conference champion in two events for the women’s squad as she won both the 3,000 meters (9:59.32) and the 5,000 meters (16:58.38). Her showing in the 5,000 meters set a meet record. Stuart won the mile run (4:57.94) at the conference meet and ran on FSU’s distance medley relay team that placed second (12:10.01) overall. Ferris’ men’s team was paced by Jozwiak, who clocked 1:53.98 in earning runner-up honors in the 800 meters.

The University of Houston will host the 2009 NCAA Division II Winter National Championships Festival. During this Olympic-type event, more than 800 student-athletes will battle for NCAA titles in men’s and women’s track and field, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, and wrestling. The festival will be held over a five-day period with all events being held in the Houston area. The primary goal of this festival is to enhance the student-athlete collegiate experience and, at the same time, create awareness and exposure for Division II sports by hosting multiple championships in a specified time period at one specific location.

Various action from the Division II Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships will be streamed lived on www.ncaa.com both days of the championships.