Morgen Leonard-Fleckman Wins Pole Vault Indoor National Title

RESULTS | TEAM STANDINGS

Ada, Ohio, March 15, 2008 – Senior Morgen Leonard-Fleckman of the Washington University in St. Louis women’s indoor track and field team won the pole vault title at the 2008 NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships on Saturday, March 15, in Ada, Ohio, with a Washington University school-record height of 3.86 meters. The Washington U. women’s team finished in third place overall, the school’s highest-ever finish at the National Championship meet, earning All-America honors in all three events in which it competed.

“The pole vault is a very difficult event, and on some days and athlete has it, on others they do, today, Morgen had it,” head coach Paul Thornton said. “This has been a four-year process for Morgen, who constantly strived to get better after qualifying for nationals during her freshman year. I always though she had the ability on any given day to be the best in Division III.”

A three-time national qualifier in the pole vault, Leonard-Fleckman also earned All-America honors with an eighth-place finish in 2006. On Saturday, her height of 3.86 meters tied with NCAA runner-up Rachel Secrest of North Central College, but Leonard-Fleckman missed on few jumps before attempting to break the NCAA record, making her the 2008 champion. For her outstanding performance, she was named the NCAA Women's Field Athlete of the Meet.

“I had a great warm-up today and I was really pumped up, realizing that anything can happen in this event,” Leonard-Fleckman said. “I tried my best not to get ahead of myself and to really focus on the process and not the outcome. Before the meet I thought about how great it would be to become a national champion, but I had no idea that it would actually happen.”

Leonard-Fleckman was not the only Washington U. athlete to earn All-America honors on Saturday, as junior Danielle Wadlington came in second place in the triple jump finals. Wadlington hit a distance of 11.68 meters in the finals, just 0.02 meters behind event champion Shannon O’Keeffe of SUNY-Brockport. She earns All-America honors in the triple jump for the first time in her career; she earned two All-America accolades in 2005 for the Bears’ second place indoor and outdoor NCAA Championship 4x400-meter relay teams.

In Friday’s action, the distance medley relay foursome of freshman Kelli Blake, junior Erika Wade, freshman Sangeeta Hardy, and freshman Taryn Surtees posted a time of 12:04.95, for a fourth-place finish, meaning all six of Washington University’s competitors at the NCAA Championships achieved All-America status.

“I had high expectations for this team when we came to this meet, thinking that all six of our athletes had the chance to become All-Americans, and it is great to be able to accomplish that,” Thornton said.

After Leonard-Fleckman’s first-place finish, Washington U. staked claim to first place in the overall team standings. The Bears held on to the top through 13 scored events, but were passed by 2008 champion Illinois Wesleyan University and Wartburg College. Illinois Wesleyan and Wartburg placed first and second respectively in the final event of the meet, the 4x400-meter relay. Prior to Saturday WU’s highest national finish was ninth-place overall.

Women's Track Grabs Fourth in DMR at NCAA Championships

RESULTS | TEAM STANDINGS

Ada, Ohio, March 14, 2008 – The Washington University women’s indoor track and field team was in 13th place after one day of competition at the 2008 NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships on the campus of Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio, on March 14. The Bears competed in the distance medley relay, taking fourth-place in the event and tallying five team points.

The relay foursome of freshman Kelli Blake, junior Erika Wade, freshman Sangeeta Hardy and freshman Taryn Surtees posted a time of 12:04.95. Tufts University placed first in the race, with an Ohio Northern Sports Center Fieldhouse record time of 11:46.79.

The Bears will participate in two events on Saturday, March 15, the final day of competition at the NCAA Championship meet. Senior Morgen Leonard-Fleckman will vie for the pole vault national championship and junior Danielle Wadlington will compete for the triple jump title.

Leonard-Fleckman qualified for the NCAA Championships with a Washington University school record and provisional height of 3.74 meters. Wadlington’s distance of 11.58 meters in the triple jump at the University Athletic Association Championships a week ago qualified her for the NCAA’s.