Landmark Wraps Up Competition At NCAA Meet With More All-America Performances

MARIETTA, Ohio - Moravian College sophomore Eric Woodruff won an individual event to lead four Landmark athletes who earned All-America status on the final day of competition at the 2009 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Marietta, Ohio.

Woodruff became the tenth Moravian student-athlete to win an individual national championship and the ninth track & field athlete when he captured the 200-meter dash in a school record time of 21.06 seconds. Woodruff, who had the fastest qualifying time in the preliminaries on Thursday, defeated Hanneus Ollison from McMurry by two-tenths of a second in the finals. Ollison had entered the meet with the top time in the nation, running under 21 seconds earlier in the year. Woodruff earned ten team points for his victory and also earned All-American honors for the second time on the day.

With the national championship, Woodruff becomes the first Greyhound student-athlete to win a track event at the national meet since Heidi Wolfsberger captured the 2001 NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships. Woodruff is also the first Moravian male to win an outdoor track title since Jeff Cullingford won the 800-meter run back in 1990.

Woodruff began the afternoon by earning All-American honors in the 100-meter dash in a time of 10.87 seconds, earning four team points. The 100-meter dash was the first of his two final races and earned him All-American honors for the first time in his career. Woodruff's time in the 100-meter dash was four hundredths of a second slower than his qualifying time in the preliminary on Friday with the 200-meter dash scheduled for just over an hour after the 100-meter dash.

Also earning All-America status on the day were the members of the Moravian women's 4x100-meter relay team. Juniors Rachel Beck, Jessica Posimo and Symonne Scott and sophomore Sydni Wisniewski earn All-American honors with a sixth place finish in a school record time of 47.39 seconds, 0.13 seconds faster than their time in the preliminaries on Thursday. The sixth place showing gave Moravian three more team points. The relay squad from Wartburg (IA) College won the race in 46.21 seconds, the fastest time in NCAA Division III this season.

The All-American honors are the first for Beck, Posimo and Wisniewski while Scott was an All-American at the 2009 NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships in the long jump.

Also competing for the Landmark on the final day of the three-day meet was Juniata senior Kelsey Buffenmyer who finished in a tie for 10th place in the high jump.
Buffenmyer cleared the bar at 1.64m (5-4 ½) on her third attempt, tying her with Delaware Valley College's Meghan Donovan. She was unable to clear at the next height, 1.67m (5-5 ¾). Saturday's performance in the high jump was the second of two events in which Buffenmyer competed; on Thursday, she finished in a tie for 12th place in the long jump with a mark of 5.35m (17-6 ¾).

With Woodruff leading the way the Greyhound men finished in a tie for 18th of 81 schools scoring a point with 14 points, all scored by sophomore Eric Woodruff, pictured at right, on the final day of competition. The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh won the team title with 46 points while McMurry (TX) University was second with 40 points.

On the women's side Moravian tied for 24th of the 79 schools that received a point as the Greyhounds scored 11 points in the meet. Wartburg (IA) College captured the team national championship with 52 points after winning the 4x400-meter relay in the final event of the meet while the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh was second with 50 points.

Story provided by Juniata and Moravian Sports Information