Three members of the Gustavus women’s track and field team have been selected to participate in the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships which will be held May 22-24 at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh. That group includes junior Lisa Brown (javelin), sophomore Kaelene Lundstrum, (heptathlon and high jump) and senior Shanna Dawson (pole vault). Brown will be making her third consecutive appearance at the national outdoor meet, while Lundstrum and Dawson will be making their first appearance.
Brown (Lake Crystal, Minn.), who won the NCAA javelin title in 2006 and finished second last year, enters this year’s meet with the top distance in Division III this season at 158 feet, 5 inches. Brown finished seventh at the Drake Relays with a distance of 156 feet, 5 inches, which was a new school record on April 25, she then broke the record on May 10 when she won the MIAC Championship with a distance of 158 feet, 5 inches. Brown was honored by the MIAC Track and Field Coaches with the Outstanding Performance of the Meet for her winning effort in the javelin. She will compete at the NCAA Championships on Saturday at 2:30 pm.
Lundstrum (Bird Island, Minn.) will have a busy couple of days in Oshkosh, Wis. as she will be participating in the heptathlon on Thursday and Friday, and in the high jump on Friday at 4:00 pm. Lundstrum won the MIAC title in the high jump at 5-3, and finished second in the pentathlon with 4,430 points. She enters the national meet ranked eighth in the high jump at a height of 5 feet, 6 inches and tenth in the heptathlon with 4,430 points.
Dawson (Fairmont, Minn.), who finished sixth in the pole vault at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March at a height of 12 feet, will be making her first appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She won the MIAC Outdoor title at a height of 12 feet. Dawson set the school record at the Meet of the Unsaintly on Sunday, May 4 at a height of 12 feet, 2 1/2 inches. She enters the national meet ranked ninth and will compete on Thursday (May 22) at 1:00 pm.
You can follow all of the action at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships on the Championships Website.