Women's DMR Finishes Second to Highlight First Day at Indoor Championships

RESULTS | HARMON INTERVIEW

Columbus, Ohio, March 11, 2011 — The Washington University in St. Louis women’s distance medley relay team finished as the national runner-up to highlight a strong first day for the Bears at the 2011 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships in Columbus, Ohio.

Through the first day of action the Washington University women’s team sits in a tie for sixth place in the team standings with eight points, while the WUSTL men are in 26th place with one point thanks to an eighth-place finish in the long jump by senior Ben Harmon.

The women’s distance medley relay team nearly captured Washington University’s first national championship in a relay, but finished just 1.14 seconds behind the winning squad from Middlebury College.

Washington University’s team of senior Jessica Londeree, freshman Shannon Howell, junior Erica Jackey and junior Liz Phillips entered the event as the No. 1 seed with a school-record breaking time of 11:48.98, and the Bears were just off that pace on Friday night, posting a time of 11:49.10 Washington University’s previous best finish in the DMR was a fourth-place showing in 2008.

Harmon earned All-America honors in the long jump for the first time in his career and increased his career All-America tally to four. However, Friday’s finish marked the first time Harmon picked up an All-America finish in a single event, his previous three citations were in either the pentathlon or decathlon.

He posted a distance of 7.00 meters to capture eighth place and become the first Washington University men’s All-American in the long jump since Antone Meaux accomplished the feat in 1995. Harmon did however become the first Washington University student-athlete to garner long jump All-America honors at the NCAA Division III indoor championship; Meaux was a two-time outdoor All-American.

Washington University qualified both of its competitors for the 55-meter hurdle finals thanks to strong preliminary runs. Junior Dan Davis posted a time of 7.54 in the 55-hurdle preliminaries, which ranks third out of eight heading into Saturday evening’s championship. Junior Tyler Jackson also qualified for the finals with a time of 7.67, which seeds him eighth.

Davis was an All-American in the 55-hurldes last year when he placed fifth at the indoor national meet. Jackson will take aim at earning All-America accolades for the first time in his career.

Senior Chris Malaya fell one one-hundredth of a second shy of advancing to the 400-meter finals. He posted a mark of 49.95 during Friday’s preliminary run, which was 0.01 behind McMurry University Kevin Cunningham’s time of 49.94, representing the eighth and final position for Saturday’s championship.

The Bears will conclude action at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday, March 12, in Columbus, Ohio. Harmon will compete in the pentathlon where he will attempt to earn All-America honors in the event for the second time in his career. Jackson and Davis run in the 55-meter hurdle finals at 5:20 p.m.