FERRIS STATE TRACK & FIELD ATHLETES TO COMPETE IN NATIONAL MEET
Six Bulldog Squad Members Headed To NCAA-II Championships
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| Ferris senior Sharon Smith will compete in the 200 meters at the national indoor meet |
Six members of the Ferris State University women’s track and field team have been selected to compete in the NCAA Division II Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships slated to be held March 11-12 at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Boston, Mass.
The group includes senior Sharon Smith (Inkster/Oak Park), juniors Jenny Irwin (Scottville/Mason County Central), Geneva Jones (Detroit/Cooley) and Leanna Wolf (Fountain/Mason County Central) along with freshmen Chandra Robinson (Warren/Mott) and Kamitra Carroll (Flint/Carman-Ainsworth). The final meet participants were announced Tuesday (March 1) by the NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Committee.
A total of 400 student-athletes qualified for the meet by reaching the automatic or provisional standards established for each event. The national championships will be hosted by the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).
A 200-meter dash qualifier, Smith holds the 18th-fastest time (25.01) of 20 competitors selected. The preliminary qualifying round of the women’s 200 meters will be held Friday, March 11, at 7:20 p.m. (EST) with the event finals set for a 4:28 p.m. (EST) start on Saturday, March 12. The top eight finishers will earn All-America recognition.
Irwin will compete in the mile run and enters the national meet with the 12th-best (4:58.36) mark of 14 individuals selected to compete in the event. Her race is slated to begin Saturday at 3 p.m. (EST).
The Bulldogs will be represented in the shot put by Carroll, who's seed mark (47-9.25) is fifth overall of 14 throwers. The women's shot put will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. (EST).
The women's distance medley relay contingent of Jones, Robinson, Wolf and Irwin presently hold the nation's third-fastest (11:50.19) time heading into the national meet and will race Friday at 7:50 p.m. (EST). Senior Mary Miller (Sault Ste. Marie) is FSU's alternate relay runner.
The Bulldog women's indoor track and field team tied for fourth place under head coach Jeff Kavalunas with 51.5 points at last weekend's (Feb. 25-26) Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championships held at Saginaw Valley State's Ryder Center in University Center, Mich.
Ferris State has had 12 All-America indoor performances in school history heading into this season's national meet. The school's most recent indoor All-America showings came in 2002 when former student-athletes Katie Chapman (800 meters), Morgan Buckner (60-meter hurdles) and Tianna Kirkland (shot put) all placed among the top eight individuals.
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