Kristen McGlynn
The Paw Print
On March 12 and 13, the Adams State men and women will be competing at the NCAA Division II Indoor National Track and Field Meet held at the Albuquerque Convention Center. The meet will be hosted by Adams State College.
An interesting factor affecting the participants of this 2010 championship event would be the altitude of Albuquerque, which is around 5,280 feet above sea level. Competitors, especially in the long distance events, will have to be wary of over-extending themselves early on, potentially making for a weekend of spectator-friendly tactical races.
Adams State will be one of the few schools with the unique advantage of traveling to a lower elevation to compete, dropping over 2,000 ft. in elevation from Alamosa to Albuquerque. Spectators can expect to see the Grizzlies distance men and women utilize this advantage.
The Grizzlies will be sending eleven men and six women along with two distance medley relay teams to the national meet. The men look to improve upon last year’s second place finish behind St. Augustine’s while the women will be attempting to better last year’s twelfth place finish.
Several ASC individuals will be chasing championship titles and All-American honors. On the men’s side, Aaron Braun comes in ranked as the top individual in both the one mile and 5000-meter run. Braun will look to win both titles defending his individual mile title claimed in the 2009 season, but challenge may come from teammates Ryan McNiff in the mile and 2009 Cross Country National Champion Reuben Mwei in the 5000-meters.
The potential majority of the ASC men’s team point will likely come in these two events, as Grizzly competitors round out six of the twelve spots in both the mile and 5000-meter events.
In other events, Drew Graham will be chasing an individual championship as he comes in ranked a close second in the men’s 800-meter run. Senior James Douglas will contest the long jump, an event in which he is currently seeded third. The men’s distance medley team also enters the meet ranked third overall. Freshman Dyson Mortensen will be looking to repeat earlier season success as he competes in the high jump.
For the women, Indira Spence will be leading the Grizzlies, competing in both the 60-meter hurdles and the 200-meter dash. Spence is currently ranked second in both events, but stands a good chance of winning both events in the head-to-head national competition.
Freshman Alicia Nelson enters the mile ranked second with the support of teammates Cassie Mitchell and Janette Cary to chase after All-American status. Vanessa Roy will compete in the 800-meter run where she is currently seeded second. These four women will return in the distance medley relay hoping to improve on their third place ranking.
For students interested in attending the event, more information about the meet can be found by visiting the Adams State athletic website and following the designated link or by going to www.ncaa.com.
Schedule of Events with Grizzly participants
Friday, March 12, 2010 Convention Center @ Albuquerque, NM 2:55 Men's High Jump – Dyson Mortensen 4:20 (prelim) Women's Mile Run - Alicia Nelson, Cassie Mitchell, Janette Cary 4:35 (prelim) Men's Mile Run – Aaron Braun, Ryan McNiff, Anthony Gauthier, Reuben Mwei, Brain Medigovich, Keegan Calmes 5:30 Men's Long Jump – James Douglas 5:50 (prelim) Women's 800 Meter Run – Vanessa Roy, Sofia Monroe 6:05 (prelim) Men's 800 Meter Run – Drew Graham 6:20 (prelim) Women's 60 Meter Hurdles – Indira Spence 6:50 (prelim) Women's 200 Meter Dash - Spence 7:25 Women's Distance Medley Relay (final) – Mitchell, Cary, Roy, Nelson 7:45 Men's Distance Medley Relay (final) – Calmes, Soucy, Graham, Gauthier Saturday, March 13, 2010 All Final Events – Grizzly participants dependent on advances from Friday preliminaries 3:30 Women's Mile Run
3:40 Men’s Mile Run
4:30 Women’s 800-Meter Run
4:40 Men’s 800-Meter Run
4:55 Women’s 60-Meter Hurdles
5:15 Women’s 200-Meter Dash
5:55 Men’s 5,000 Meter Run – Braun, Mwei, Medigovich, Luke Cragg, McNiff, Florian Theophile
6:35 Team Awards
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