Elizabethtown College Men's Track and Field
Saturday, March 11, 2006

Four Elizabethtown Athletes Earn All-America Honors Saturday as Blue Jays Finish 12th in Nation at NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships 

NORTHFIELD , Minn. --- Four more Elizabethtown College athletes earned All-America honors Saturday at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. All five Etown athletes who competed at the NCAA Championships Friday & Saturday became All-Americans over the course of the weekend by placing in the top eight in their respective events.

As a team, Elizabethtown finished 12th out of 52 scoring teams at the NCAA Championships with a total of 14.0 points. Wisconsin-La Crosse won the 2006 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field championship with 78 points, and Lincoln (Pa.) finished second with 31 points. Etown's 12th place finish is its highest NCAA Indoor Championship finish ever.

Early Saturday evening, Etown junior Tyson Evensen (West Sand Lake, NY/Averill Park) finished third in the nation in the men’s 800m finals with a time of 1:53.23. He had won his preliminary heat in the 800m Friday with a time of 1:52.91. The second through fourth place finishers in the 800m finals Saturday crossed the finish line within 0.19 second of one another.

Later Saturday night, Elizabethtown’s men’s distance medley relay team of junior Patrick Donovan (South Pasadena, CA/St. Francis), first-year student Stephon Finley (Douglassville, PA/Daniel Boone), sophomore Drew Graybeal (Sykesville, MD/Glenelg) and Evensen finished sixth in the nation with a time of 10:13.73. Donovan ran the opening 1200m leg in 3:06, and he handed off to Finley for the 400m leg. On Finley's handoff to Graybeal for the 800m leg, the baton was knocked out of the hands of Etown's runners as the exchange collided with that of another team happening at the same time. Graybeal picked up the baton, ran his leg and handed off to Evensen for the final 1600m leg. Evensen ran the final 400m of his mile in just 61 seconds, enabling Etown to finish sixth.

On Friday, Etown sophomore Kevin Clark (Horsham, PA/Hatboro-Horsham) earned All-America honors in the pole vault by placing fourth in the nation in that event with a height of 16’5-1/2.”

At Northfield, Minn.
NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships (hosted by St. Olaf College)
Top 25 Team Scores (52 scoring teams): 1. Wisconsin-La Crosse 78; 2. Lincoln (Pa.) 31; 3. Wisconsin-Oshkosh 27; 4. Nebraska Wesleyan 26; 5. New Jersey City 24; 6. Mount Union 23; 7. Loras 20; 8. M.I.T. 18; 9. Widener 16; 10(t). Heidelberg 15; 10(t). SUNY-Cortland 15; 12. Elizabethtown 14; 13(t). Wisconsin-Whitewater 13; 13(t). College of New Jersey 13; 15(t). Otterbein 12; 15(t). North Central 12; 17(t). Pomona Pitzer 10; 17(t). UMass-Dartmouth 10; 17(t). Cabrini 10; 20(t). Wisconsin-Stevens Point 9; 20(t). Williams 9; 22(t). Wheaton (Mass.) 8; 22(t). Rowan 8; 22(t) SUNY-Plattsburgh 8; 22(t). Greenville 8.
Men’s 800m Finals (Finishers All-Americans):
1. Jeff Zodda, Sr., College of New Jersey, 1:52.53
2. Evan Knight, So., Nebraska Wesleyan, 1:53.07
3. Tyson Evensen, Jr., Elizabethtown, 1:53.23
4. Blake Henning, Sr., Nebraska Wesleyan, 1:53.26
5. Nick Stenuf, So., Nazareth, 1:53.99
6. Tyler Gray, Jr., Williams, 1:57.84
7. Chris Beeler, So., Williams, 1:60.00
Ryan Garro, Jr. Mount Union, DQ
Men’s Distance Medley Relay (Top Eight All-Americans):
1. Wisconsin- La Crosse, 10:05.24
2. North Central, 10:06.66
3. Mount Union, 10:06.83
4. Central (Ia.), 10:08.54
5. Wartburg, 10:11.30
6. Elizabethtown (Patrick Donovan, Stephon Finley, Drew Graybeal, Evensen), 10:13.73
7. Williams, 10:14.07
8. Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 10:14.13
9. College of New Jersey, 10:14.15
10. Nebraska Wesleyan, 10:14.18
Men’s Pole Vault (Top Eight All-Americans):
1. Nick Pergande, Sr., Wisconsin- La Crosse, 16’9-1/2”
2. Matt Novak, Jr., Wisconsin- La Crosse, 16’9-1/2”
3. Jon Heinz, Sr., Wisconsin- La Crosse, 16’5-1/2”
4. Kevin Clark, So., Elizabethtown, 16’5-1/2”
5. Zach Johnson, Jr., Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 16’5-1/2”
6. Derek Zulkoski, Jr., Nebraska Wesleyan, 16’5-1/2”
7. Alex Tapplin, Jr., Wisconsin-La Crosse, 16’1-3/4”
8. Kyle Calvert, Fy., Loras, 15’7-3/4”
9(t). Michael Bina, So., North Central, 15’7-3/4”
9(t). Nate Ball, Sr., M.I.T., 15’7-3/4”
11. Peter Sprecher, So., Monmouth College (Ill.), 15’1-3/4”
13(t). Jonny Henkins, So., Monmouth College (Ill.), NH
13(t). Andy Rollins, Sr., Lynchburg, NH