RESULTS
NAPERVILLE, Ill. – The Ithaca College women's track & field team finished the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships as the national runner-up with 41.25 points on Saturday at the Al B. Carius Track, which was hosted by North Central College. It is the highest team finish in program history for Ithaca in either season of track & field.
The previous best finish for the Bombers at the national meet was a sixth place showing at the 2011 Outdoor Championships. Ithaca's indoor program never finished better than 11th, which occurred twice in 1991-92 and 2002-03.
Washington University of St. Louis (44 points) edged out Ithaca for the national title by 2.75 points. Wash U. needed at least a third place finish in its final event of the championships, the 4x400-meter relay, and finished second overall. A fourth place finish by the Bears would have given the Bombers the national title by .25 points.
On Saturday, senior
Brandy Smith opened up competition with a second place finish in the shot put. Smith posted the top mark in the field of 14.91 meters on her first attempt, and held onto that position until the final heave by Monique Newton of Oberlin measured out 15.56 meters. Smith stepped into the circle for her final attempts and launched a 15.21-meter (49 feet, 11 inches) throw to come up just short of the national title, but in the process, set a new school record by nearly a meter.
Smith held the school record with a mark of 14.29 meters heading into the championships. She entered today's competition seeded fourth.
Later in the evening, junior
Taryn Cordani won the 3,000-meter run with a facility record time of 9:42.43 seconds. A full recap on Cordani's performance
can be read here.
On Friday, Cordani and senior
Katherine Pitman claimed national titles in the 5,000-meter run and the pole vault. Smith placed sixth in the weight throw and freshman
Beth Cripps tied for eighth in the pole vault.
PITMAN POLE VAULT TITLE | CORDANI 5K TITLE | SMITH AND CRIPPS ALL-AMERICANS
The following point breakdown is how team points are accumulated:
First – 10 points
(Cordani 3K and 5K, Pitman pole vault)
Second – 8 points
(Smith shot put)
Third – 6 points
Fourth – 5 points
Fifth – 4 points
Sixth – 3 points
(Smith weight throw)
Seventh – 2 points
Eighth – 1 point
(Cripps was awarded .25 points due to a four-way tie)
