Local Sports from The Courier

Monday, March 11, 2013

College track: UF's Miller third in shot put at NCAA championships
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- University of Findlay junior Taylor Miller just missed winning a national championship in the men's shot put to highlight the weekend for the Oilers at the NCAA Division II indoor track and field championships in Birmingham, Ala.

Miller, who was fourth in the shot put in last year's Division II outdoor nationals, led the field of nine finalists with a toss of 59-2 in the preliminary round.

Indianapolis senior Ryan Smith (61-0) and Minnesota State-Mankato junior Christopher Reed (60-5) passed Miller as he fouled on all three of his finals tries.

Findlay junior Marcus Vicars also earned a spot on the awards stand by finishing sixth with a throw of 56-3?. Darren Bass just missed a spot in the finals, finishing 10th with a toss of 54-9?.

Junior Cory Shank earned his first All-American award for the Oilers with a seventh-place effort in the pole vault.

Shank cleared 16-0? and 16-4? on his third and final attempts at each height to medal. Texas A&M-Kingsville's Jordan Yamoah won the pole vault with a jump of 17-4?.

The Oilers' 1,600 relay team of Michael Travis, Tim Sanders, Darren Johnson and Dillon Webster also medaled as the UF quartet ended up seventh in a time of 3:14.0.

Findlay finished 15th in the team standings with 13 points.

Kendra Bassitt, a former Bluffton High School standout competing for Ashland University, led the way in the women's meet.

Bassitt, a senior, finished fourth for the Eagles in the women's pentathlon with 3,678 points. She was 247 points behind Central Missouri junior Erin Alewine, who won the event with 3,925 points.

Bassitt finished third out of the 16 competitors in the high jump (5-7?) and shot put (37-2?). She was fourth in the 60-meter hurdles (8.8), fifth in the 800 (2:23.54) and 16th in the long jump (15-1?).

UF's Pam Showman finished in 10th place for the Oilers. Her best showing was a sixth-place effort in the 800 (2:25.1). Showman was 10th in the high jump (5-43/4), shot put (34-4) and long jump (16-10?) while adding a 12th place effort in the 60 hurdles (9.2). She finished with 3,554 points in the event.

Findlay's Jessica Rowland, who was second in the weight throw on Thursday, and Kendra Averesch, fifth in the shot put Friday, helped the Oilers finish 17th in the women's team standings with 12 points.



Men's Team Standings

1, St. Augustine 72. 2, Ashland 59?. 3, Adams State 55. 4, Grand Valley State 43?. 5, Minnesota State-Mankato 31. 6, Indianapolis 30. 7, Central Missouri 29. 8, Texas A&M-Kingsville 26. 9, Lincoln 25. 10, Grand Canyon 24?. 11, Academy of Art 20. 12, Shippensburg 18. 13, Western State 17. 14, Alaska-Anchorage 15. 15, Findlay, Johnson C. Smith & Lake Erie 13. 18, American International 12. 19, Stonehill 10?. 20, Southern Baptist 10. 21, Missouri Southern, Slippery Rock, Massachusetts-Lowell, Southern Connecticut State, Emporia State, Clayton State & Lake Superior State 8. 28, Minnesota State-Moorhead & Southern Indiana 7. 30, West Texas A&M, Metropolitan State, Saginaw Valley State, Colorado School of Mines & Western Oregon 5. 35, Fort Hayes State 4. 36, Seton Hill, Bellarmine, Lock Haven & Lenoir-Rhyne 4. 40, California, Pa., Abilene Christian, Nebraska-Kearney, New Haven & St. Rose 2. 45, Lewis, Augustana, Virginia State & West Chester 1.

Women's Team Standings

1, Academy of Art 59. 2, Grand Canyon 45. 3, Lincoln 44. 4, Grand Valley State 41. 5, Adams State 31. 6, Johnson C. Smith 30. 7, Ashland 29. 8, Angelo State 28. 9, Mary 25. 10, Abilene Christian 24. 11, Alaska-Anchorage 23. 12, Simon Freaser 22. 13, Central Missouri 20. 14, Ferris State 18. 15, Virginia State & New Haven 13. 17, Findlay & Sioux Falls 12. 19, Wayne State (Neb.) 9. 20, Saginaw Valley State, Seattle Pacific, Massachusetts-Lowell, Cal State-Stanislaus & Cal State-Los Angeles 8. 25, Tiffin, Augustana & New Mexico Highlands 7. 28, American International, Hillsdale & Nebraska-Kearney 6. 31, Missouri Southern, Western State & Shippensburg 5. 34, Georgian Court, Harding & Winona State 4. 37, Truman State, Colorado School of Mines, Concord, Minnesota-Duluth & Livingstone 3. 32, Minnesota State-Mankato 2. 43, Southern Connecticut State, Alabama-Huntsville & Western Washington 1.


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