Two Athletes Earn All-American Status At NCAA Championships

OSHKOSH, Wis. - Moravian College sophomore Anna Heim and Juniata College senior Matt Booth placed thid in the women's pole vault and men's long jump respectively to earn All-America Honors on the first day of competition at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Heim cleared 3.82 meters (12 feet, 6 ¼ inches) to tie Jessica White of Monmouth College. Holly Rollins of McMurry University won the event at a height of 3.92 meters (12 feet, 10 ¼ inches). Heim’s tie for third earned Moravian 5.5 points, tying Moravian for 12th of 26 teams that scored a point on the first day of the three-day meet. It was the second time this year Heim has earned All-America status after she placed fourth in the pole vault at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Booth posted a jump of 7.11m (23-4) on his sixth and final effort in the finals, setting a new personal best and Juniata College record in the process. He entered the finals ranked third based on first round performances, and dropped to as low as fifth in the competition before moving up to third on his final jump. Booth advanced to the finals with a jump of 6.98m (22-11) in the first round, finishing second in flight one. Booth earned All-America honors for the first time in his career. He becomes the sixth men's track and field All-American at Juniata College, and the 108th All-American in school history.

In other women’s action, sophomore Symonne Scott placed fourth in her flight and tied for ninth overall in the long jump with a distance of 5.29 meters (17 feet, 4 1/4 inches). Scott also ran in the preliminaries of the 4x100-meter relay with sophomores Rachel Beck and Jessica Posimo and freshman Syndi Wisniewski; however, the quartet failed to finish the race.

On the men’s side, senior Ozzie Brown is currently in first place after the first half of the decathlon. Brown had a point total of 3,942 through five events while Josh Lovell from Linfield College is second with 3,598 points. Brown was first in the 100-meter dash in 11.10 seconds for 838 points, first in the long jump at 7.03 meters (23 feet, ¾ inch) for 821 points, fourth in the shot put at 11.94 meters (39 feet, 2 ¼ inches) for 603 points, first in the high jump at 1.99 meters (six feet, 6 ¼ inches) for 794 points and second in the 400-meter dash in 48.49 seconds to earn 886 points. The decathlon continues on Friday with the 110-meter high hurdles, the discus, the pole vault, the javelin and the 1,500-meter run.

Brown also competed in the long jump competition on Thursday evening immediately following the decathlon competition. Brown won the 2008 NCAA Division III Indoor National Championship in the long jump and was the first jumper of the competition. He ended up finishing sixth in his flight and 13th overall with a jump of 6.74 meters (22 feet, 1 ½ inches).

Senior Nathaniel Tussey ran in the preliminaries of the 400-meter hurdles on Thursday and placed third and his heat and fifth overall in a time of 52.87 seconds to advance to the national championship race on Saturday at 3:25 p.m. central time.