Six Wheaton women's track and field athletes prepare for NCAA meet

May 19, 2008

NORTON, MA- Six Wheaton College women's outdoor track and field athletes have qualified for this weekend's NCAA Division III Championship at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh's Keller Field at Titan Stadium. The three-day event begins Thursday, as the eight-time national champions look to improve upon last year's finish of tying for 28th place.

Junior Chizoba Ezeigwe (Brockton, MA/Thayer Academy), a six-time All-American, will compete in three events, taking part in the 100- and 200-meter dashes while running a leg in the 4x400M relay. She will be joined on the foursome by junior Natana Jules (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) and sophomores Kelly Libert (New Haven, CT/James Hillhouse) and Renee Thompson (Hartford, CT/Weaver), while junior Christine Moreau (Lincoln, RI/Lincoln) will serve as an alternate. Thompson is also running the 400M, and freshman high jumper Erin Neville (North Providence, RI/La Salle Academy) rounds out the corps.

Ezeigwe, who earned All-America honors during the indoor season in the 400-meter dash, automatically qualified for the 200M with a time of 24.55 at the All New England Championship a week and a half ago. She enters the event with the nation's third-best time among the 26 competitors and the best by a runner not from Illinois Wesleyan University. Ezeigwe's top showing in the 100M of 12.06 was recorded on April 5 at the Skyhawk Invitational, as she has competed in the event just twice this spring but won both times. Her time is tied for eighth among the 20 entrants in the race.

Thompson has twice earned All-America honors while running for a relay team and looks for her initial All-America finish in an individual event during her third 400-meter dash competition at an NCAA Championship. Her best time this spring of 57.18 stands 14th out of the 19 runners in the national meet field, having recorded the mark at the Miami Elite Invitational. Of the race's 19 athletes, Thompson is one of 10 underclassmen.

Neville, who finished third at this year's indoor NCAA Championship in the high jump, qualified for the outdoor national meet by reaching her top height of 5' 6" on April 26 at the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship. As the lone freshman in the 18-athlete field, her best showing tied for sixth nationally this spring.

Wheaton's 4x400M relay team owns the nation's second-best time this season, as Ezeigwe, Jules, Libert and Thompson ran to a 3:47.27 finish on April 12 at the Miami Elite Invitational. The quartet, which turned in a showing that was 0.13 seconds shy of the fastest in Division III, will compete in a field of 16. Moreau joined Ezeigwe, Jules and Libert during a 3:54.01 showing at the All New England meet, a time that was 0.05 ticks better than that of the final qualifier for the NCAA Championship. Jules has twice earned All-America laurels as part of a 4x400M relay quartet, while Libert and Moreau seek their initial honors.

The Lyons, who have won three outdoor national championships and five indoor crowns, begin competition on Thursday, as Ezeigwe runs in the 200-meter dash trials at 6:00 p.m. before joining her teammates for the 4x400M relay trials at 7:10 p.m. Neville takes part in the high jump on Friday at 4:00 p.m., followed by Thompson in the 400M trials at 5:20 p.m. and Ezeigwe during the 100M trials at 5:50 p.m. The 100M, 200M, 400M and 4x400M relay championship races all occur on Saturday afternoon.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 8/25/08.
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