Women's Indoor Track and Field home
Ezeigwe records two of Wheaton's three NCAA times at New Balance Collegiate Invitational in New York City
February 3, 2007
NEW YORK, NY- Sophomore All-American Chizoba Ezeigwe (Brockton, MA/Thayer Academy) helped the Wheaton College women's 4x400-meter relay team run the nation's fastest time to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championship and was one of two Lyons to meet provisional standards as the Blue and White's track and field teams competed this weekend at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational in the New York City Armory.
The meet, which ran on Friday and Saturday, drew athletes from nearly 115 schools, including almost 60 Division I institutions, as Wheaton was among a handful of Division III colleges slated to attend. The field included male competitors from the winners of the 2006 NCAA Division I indoor championship from the University of Arkansas, and last year's top Division I outdoor squad from Florida State University.
Wheaton's 4x400-meter relay team, comprised of Ezeigwe, sophomore Natana Jules (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls), and freshmen Kamia Smith (Cincinnati, OH/Cincinnati Country Day School) and Renee Thompson (Hartford, CT/Weaver), finished in 3:51.91, which was the fastest in the nation this year and bested its eight-team heat. The quartet also defeated the same foursome from Lincoln University that won the 2006 NCAA indoor crown.
Ezeigwe completed the 400-meter dash in 57.29, which was a provisional qualifier and left her just 0.10 seconds behind the second-place finisher in her six-athlete heat. Senior All-American Jennifer Harlow (East Bridgewater, MA/East Bridgewater) also left her mark, as her high jump of 5' 6" tied seven Division I athletes for the highest of the event. The NCAA provisional height tied her for fourth in the overall standings after entering this week with the nation's best jump this season at 5' 8" on January 7.
A pair of Lyon men came close to provisional times, including freshman Merzudin Ibric (Revere, MA/Phillips Academy) during a 49.17 showing in the 400-meter dash, which topped his six-runner heat. Ibric finished 0.07 seconds away from an NCAA time and 0.41 ticks ahead of the next finisher. In the preliminary round of the 60-meter hurdles, classmate Howard Powell's (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) finish in 8.35 left him just 0.06 seconds short of a national meet time.
Ezeigwe and Thompson provided additional highlights in the 200-meter dash, as they turned in what might prove to be the top two times in that event thus far this season in New England. Based on results entering the week, Ezeigwe's 25.88 finish would be the fastest in the region, as she came within 0.10 seconds of placing second in her five-athlete heat while running the 200M for the first time since last year's outdoor national championship. Thompson's time was 26.46, which was the best of her young college career.
During the 200-meter dash, sophomore All-American Michael Wright (Uniondale, NY/Baldwin) finished 17th out of 93 finishers during the preliminary round with a time of 22.03, which left him 0.12 seconds shy of qualifying for the finals and 0.17 ticks off his own school record. Sophomore All-American Jonathan Cunha (Lexington, MA/Lexington) turned in a time of 49.93 while placing second in his heat of the 400M. Cunha, Ibric and Powell joined sophomore All-American Victor Martinez (Exeter, NH/Phillips Exeter Academy) on the 4x400M relay squad that finished in 3:23.44, which qualified the foursome for the All New England Championship.
The Blue and White's squads travel to Boston University on Friday for the two-day Valentine Invitational.
This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 2/6/07.
Questions about this page? Use our query form.
Wheaton reorganizes track and field staff, Souza and Mangiacotti named co-head coaches (more)
Three Wheaton track and field athletes earn national academic honors, both men's and women's squads draw accolades from USTFCCCA (more)
Brousseau earns first academic all-district honor of career (more)
11-Jan Sun Dartmouth Relays 9:00am
16-Jan Fri Sorlien Invitational 1:30pm
23-24-Jan Fri-Sat Terrier Classic 11:00am
15-Mar NCAA Championship - T-25th
8-Mar ECAC Championship - 6th
1-Mar All New England Champ. - T-9th
