|
For Immediate Release
March 12, 2005
MEN EXTEND STREAK OF TOP-FOUR INDOOR FINISHES
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Nebraska Wesleyan’s
men finished in the top four at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track
& Field Championships for the third year in a row and every
member of the men’s team who competed is returning home an
All-American.
Bret Blake (Sr., Lincoln, Neb., Northeast High School)
fell short in his bid to three-peat as national champion in the
55-meter dash, but the Prairie Wolves had many reasons to feel good
about how they performed this weekend.
On Saturday, NWU had five more All-America performances,
including Blake, who placed fifth in the 55 (6.44) and Ryan Tietjen
(Sr., DeWitt, Neb., Tri County High School), who took fifth in the
shot put (55 feet, 3/4 inches) to earn his second All-America award
in as many days.
Derek Zulkoski (So., Columbus, Neb., Columbus High
School) and Tyler Gingery (Sr., Holmesville, Neb., Lewiston High
School) both earned All-America status for the first time in their
careers. Zulkoski placed eighth in the pole vault (16’1 3/4),
and Gingery finished sixth in the triple jump (47’1 3/4).
In the day’s final event, the men’s
4x400-meter relay team of Blake, Jeff Aldrich (Jr., Seward, Neb.,
Seward High School), Evan Knight (Fr., Ogallala, Neb., Ogallala
High School) and Chris Wolf (Fr., Ceresco, Neb., Raymond Central
High School) placed fourth in 3:19.63.
“Most of our guys finished higher than they
were seeded, so they really exceeded expectations in that sense,”
head coach Dr. Ted Bulling said. “We feel very positive about
it.”
In the end, NWU’s men finished with 32 team
points, behind only the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (52),
Lincoln University (38) and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville
(33).
The Nebraska Wesleyan women finished tied for 31st
in the team scoring with six points thanks to Amy Vanderkolk (Jr.,
Malcolm, Neb., Malcolm High School), who placed third in the 55-meter
hurdles in 8.27 seconds.
For complete NCAA Div. III Championship
results, click
here.
|
