Land Of Lincoln

Lincoln men's team captures team title over six time defending champion Wisconsin La Crosse

March 11, 2007

By Derick Lawrence

Special to CSTV.com

Lincoln University was led by two national champions in sophomore Kenddrick Gibbons and senior Bobby Young in the 55 meter hurdles and 400 meter dash, respectively. Williams College was led by junior Maddie Outman who captured four All-American honors. Outman's first All-American honor came in the long jump on Friday as she placed second. In the 55 meter hurdles she obtaine a fifth place finish. Next up was the 400 meter dash in which she placed fifth as well. A 4 x 400 meter relay team place of eighth place completed her All-American day.

Individually on the women's side senior Marcia Taddy stole the show as she became a two-time national champion in the mile run and 800 meter run. In the mile run she led from the start to win by two seconds over senior Shauneen Garrahan of Williams College with a time of 4:49.38. The 800 meter run proved to be a similar case as she won handily by 1.81 seconds over runner-up junior Kaitlin O'Sullivan of SUNY Oneonta with a time of 2:10.14. Taddy previously won her first national title on Friday as she helped guide the Wisconsin Platteville distance medley relay. Taddy competed in five events in both preliminaries and finals in the two day championships.

On the men's side senior Will Leer impressed the crowd as he reclaimed his mile run title by breaking his own Division III indoor record in the mile from last year's championship. Leer used a sit and kick race strategy to win by .54 seconds from a strong challenger in sophomore Brian Butzler of Wisconsin Whitewater. Leer's time of 4:08.19 bettered last year's mark of 4:09.42. Leer came back two hours later to place third in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 14:34.24.

Other national champions in the running events on the women's side included senior Christina Acquaviva's win in the 55 meter hurdles. Junior Rachel Anderson of Illinois Wesleyan repeated her national title in the 400 meter run. Previously, sophomore Amanda Donath looked to be a pre-race favorite over defending national champion Anderson by setting a Division III national record the day before. Anderson was not deterred, however, as she led from the gun to continue her dominance. The 55 meter dash was won by senior Mechelle Barnwell of City College of New York. Senior Ellen Davis of Wesleyan University won the 5,000 meter run by breaking away from the lead pack with a mile to go in the race. Texas Lutheran was a surprise winner in the 4 x 400 meter relay as they captured the title in the first heat with a time of 3:52.17.

Field event winners on the women's side included a triple jump victory by senior Alecia Watson of City College of New York. The women's shot put was won by sophomore Rachael Clark of Christopher Newport with a throw of 14.23m.

Running event winners on the men's side included a 55 meter dash win by junior Eddie Bynum of Salem State College. In a late race surge, sophomore Jimmy O'Brien of Ohio Northern overtook pre-race favorite junior Geoff Lambert of Wabash College to win the 800 meter run by .36 seconds with a time of 1:53.48. The men's 5,000 meter run proved to have a surprise winner in senior Fred Joslyn of SUNY Cortland. Joslyn's late race heroics proved to be the perfect race strategy as he outkicked the competition with a time of 14:31.29. The men's 4 x 400 meter relay proved to be an exciting finish as Wisconsin La Crosse narrowly defeated Lincoln University by .03 seconds to repeat their title.

Field event winners on the men's side included a pole vault win by junior Kevin Clark of Elizabethtown College. The men's high jump was won by sophomore Nick Stanisavljevic of SUNY Brockport. Sophomore Bobby Riley of Wisconsin La Crosse captured the shot put title, while freshman Kamar James of Fisk University took the triple jump title.