OSHKOSH, Wis. -- Two national champions and five All-Americans led to a third place finish for the Whitworth University men at the 2008 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Emmanuel Bofa won the 800 meter dash, following up on Cody Stelzer's national championship in the high jump on Friday.
Click here for the official championship website. Complete results are posted on the official website. Whitworth scored 31 points in the meet to finish only behind McMurry's (Texas) 35 points and SUNY-Cortland's 33 points. The third place finish ties for the highest Pirate finish in an NCAA Championship with the men's soccer team (2005). Bofa (So., Puyallup, Wash.) became the second Whitworth man to win an NCAA title when he outkicked the field to claim the 800 meter run in 1:51.01. Matt Kramer of Wisconsin-Superior was second in 1:51.29. Bofa was just off his school record (1:50.74). He and Stelzer are the first two Pirate men to win NCAA Division III titles in track and field, and the first Whitworth athletes to win any national track and field event since Nathan Whelham won the javelin at the NAIA national meet in 1991. Kory Kemp (Jr., Redmond, Wash.) took fourth place in the javelin with a lifetime best toss of 206'-1" (62.82 meters). It is the second year in a row that Kemp has earned All-America honors in the event. Also scoring in the javelin was Alex Hymel (Fr., Damascus, Ore.), who finished eighth with a throw of 193'-1" (58.85 meters). Stephen Burns of Rochester Inst. of Technology won the event with a distance of 207'-10". Joey VanHoomissen (Jr., Renton, Wash.) competed in the javelin as well. His throw of 177'-0" did not advance to the finals. Also on Saturday Jeff Kintner (So., Wenatchee, Wash.) finished fourth in the shot put with a lifetime-best mark of 53'-11" (16.43 meters). Kintner became Whitworth's fifth All-American of the meet with his performance. The winning toss was 57'-2.75" by Dan Gund of Mt. Union. "We went into the meet with high expectations," said Whitworth head coach Toby Schwarz. "Our guys not only stood up to the pressure, they excelled. If not for Ben's injury on Thursday, we might have won the championship." Ben Spaun (Sr., Wenatchee, Wash.) finished 13th in the decathlon despite suffering a pulled hamstring in the 100 dash on the first day of the competition. He went into the meet seeded fifth. On Friday Stelzer (So., The Dalles, Ore.) scored the Pirates' first 10 points of the meet when he cleared 6'-11.5" to win the high jump. All five of Whitworth's point scorers will return next season. The Pirates' previous best finish as a team at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships was 16th place in 2007. Go to Athletics Home Page >> Track & Field >> Sports Releases >> |
