FERRIS' JENNY IRWIN AMONG NCAA-II NATIONAL MEET ENTRIES
Sophomore Distance Runner To Compete At 2004 NCAA-II Outdoor Championships
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| Ferris' Jenny Irwin will compete in the 1,500 meters at the NCAA-II Championships |
Sophomore Jenny Irwin (Scottville/Mason County Central) of the 2003-04 Ferris State University women’s track and field team has been selected to compete in the 23rd annual NCAA Division II Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships slated to be held May 27-29 at Hilmer Lodge Stadium on the campus of Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif.
Irwin, who previously was named FSU’s Most Outstanding Track Athlete Award winner for the 2003-04 season, was among the final championship meet participants announced Tuesday (May 18) by the NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Committee. A total of 620 student-athletes qualified for the meet by reaching the automatic or provisional standards established for each event. The national championships will be hosted by California State Polytechnic University-Pomona.
A 1,500-meter run qualifier, Irwin holds the ninth-fastest time (4:33.11) of 20 competitors selected. The preliminary qualifying round of the women’s 1,500 meters will be held Thursday, May 27, at 6:20 p.m. (EDT) with the event finals set for a 7:37 p.m. (EDT) start on Saturday, May 29. The top eight finishers will earn All-America recognition.
Irwin met the national provisional standard and broke the school’s outdoor record by placing fourth overall (4:33.11) in the 1,500 meters at the 2004 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Outdoor Track and Field Championships (May 6-7) in Hillsdale, Mich. A 2003-04 GLIAC Indoor Track and Field All-Academic Team honoree, Irwin captured all-conference recognition and posted the school’s second-best all-time effort (10:20.78) by winning the 3,000 meters at the league’s indoor championships (Feb. 27-28) in Findlay, Ohio. The 2003 NCAA Division II Cross Country Coaches Association Individual All-Academic Team pick presently has recorded a combined six first-place indoor and outdoor individual track and field finishes this campaign. She claimed first-team All-GLIAC accolades with a seventh-place (22:29.8) finish at the 2003 GLIAC Cross Country Championships (10/25), which was hosted by Ferris State at Katke Golf Course in Big Rapids, Mich.
Irwin also provisionally qualified for the national meet in the the 3,000 meters by winning the Bulldog Invitational (April 8) at FSU’s Top Taggart Field. However, her time of 10:05.80 was not among the top 16 competitors selected to compete in the event. The national committee determines the number of meet participants on an event-by-event basis to allow for a maximum total of 620 student-athletes.
Ferris State, which placed sixth in the women’s field (52 points) at the league outdoor championships under eighth-year head coach Jeff Kavalunas this season, also had six other student-athletes not selected to compete in the national meet despite reaching provisional national qualification marks this campaign. They included senior pole vaulter Kristyn Buck (Brighton), junior sprinter Sharon Smith (Inkster/Oak Park) in the 200 meters and sophomore 800-meter runner Leanna Wolf (Fountain/Mason County Central). In addition, the Bulldogs’ 4x100-meter relay squad consisting of Smith, seniors Jennifer Delamater (Edmore/Montabella) and Crystal Kuzma (Wixom/Western) along with freshman Elizabeth Engle (Colon) was not included among the final meet entries.
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