Bethel University senior Marie Borner defended her NCAA Division III outdoor 1500-meter title and added a record-breaking 800m victory to her sterling resume, highlighting a full weekend of action for Minnesota track and field athletes competing at the NCAA level.
NCAA Division II and Division III schools held national championships over the weekend, while Division I held two preliminary contests to choose athletes for its national championship in two weeks in Eugene, Oregon.
Borner Makes it Six Titles ... Borner's double victory at the D3 meet in Berea, Ohio, gives the Cottage Grove senior six career Division III titles. Borner won indoor mile titles in 2008 and 2010, a cross country championship in 2008, the outdoor 1500m title in 2009 and 2010, and this year's 800m crown.
Borner defended her 1500m title with a 4:23.85 clocking and, and roughly an hour and a half later, clocked a Division III record 2:06.87 for the two-lap victory.
"It feels pretty good to end my collegiate career on a good note," Borner said on the Bethel University web-site. "I accomplished everything I wanted to coming in. My main goal was to win both the 800 and 1500, but it was also really cool to get the NCAA meet record in the 800."
The 800m was a kind event to Minnesotans at the meet. Gustavus Adolphus' Max Hanson won the event for men, clocking 1:49.50 to earn the only other D3 title for Minnesotans.
Division II Round-Up ... No Minnesota athletes won national titles at the NCAA Division II meet in Charlotte, North Carolina over the weekend, but many of the state's top tracksters stood high on the podium there.
Bemidji State Zac Preble was runner-up in the decathlon with 7193 points. Teammate Kristi Buerkle finished 2nd in the 400m as well in 53.85. Winona State's Kelly Shaw finished a place behind Buerkle in the event with 54.14.
Minnesota-Duluth's Michelle SanCartier finished 3rd in the 1500m in 4:24.38
Minnesota State, Mankato's Lauren Stelten finished second in the pole vault at 12-10 3/4. Teammate Brittany Henderson took third in the 100m in 11.84 and was 5th at 200m in 23.91.
St. Cloud State's Heather Miller was 3rd in the triple jump with 40-11 1/2.
Gophers Team Advance Four Each ... The University of Minnesota squads competing at the NCAA Division I West Preliminary in Austin, Texas will each send a squad of four to nationals.
The Gopher men advanced Matt Fisher, who finished 7th in the high jump at 7-1, Ben Blankenship, who finished 10th in the 1500m in a school-record 3:39.77, and Chris Rombough, who finished 11th in the 5000m in 14:08.95.
(Winona native Elliott Heath of Stanford finished runner-up in the 5000m in 14:06.27 to advance as well.)
Gopher Decathlete R. J. McGinnis will also compete at he NCAA Championships in Eugene by virtue of his season-best mark.
Heading to Oregon for the Gopher women are Megan Duwell, who finished 4th in the 10,000m in 34:31.03, Nikki Tzanakis, who finished 12th in the discus with 163-8, and 1500m runners Gabriele Anderson and Nikki Swenson. Anderson finished 3rd in the event with 4:16.22, while Swenson was 12th in 4:20.89.
Bloomington Jefferson's Jacob Sandry celebrates his Class AA 1600m victory.
9th-grader, and eventual winner, Jessica January of Richfield (#4) chases Madison Smith of Brainerd (#5) in the Class AA 300m hurdles.
Class AA 400m champion Frank Falzone of Stillwater bring it home.
Bagley-Fosston's Analisa Huschle setting a new Class A triple jump record of 38-3
Edina's Devin Crawford-Tufts sprinting to his Class AA 200m title.
Class AA 300m hurdle champ RJ Alowonle of Park Cottage Grove (#4) battles Brian Grand (#5) and Jerome Begin (#3).
Sasha Davis of Park Center (#5) pulling ahead of Sid'Reshia Floyd (#6) and Taylor Browning (#4) in the Class AA 100m.
2009 Class AA 800m champ Haylie Zenner of Fergus Falls (#5) battles eventual 2010 champ Maggie Carruth, an 8th-grader from Minnetonka.
