FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
S-090-07-08
Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Elizabethtown College to Send Three Athletes to NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College will have three senior athletes in action at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships at Ohio Northern University this weekend.

Kevin Clark (Horsham, PA/Hatboro-Horsham) will look to defend his championship in the men's pole vault on Friday, Drew Graybeal (Woodbine, MD/Glenelg) will compete in the men's 400 meters on Friday and Erin Fisher (McEwensville, PA/Warrior Run) will be in action in the women's 5,000 meters on Saturday.

Clark became the first Blue Jay national champion in track and field last season with a winning vault of 17 feet, 1 1/2 inches. He is ranked sixth among the 13 entrants with a season-best mark of 16 feet, 6 3/4 inches which he set at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational in New York City on Feb. 9.

He is a three-time All-America honoree in the pole vault, including each of the last two years at the indoor championships and at the 2006 outdoor championships, where he finished second.

Graybeal is seeded 12th in the 400 meters with a qualifying time of 49.44 seconds set at the Middle Atlantic Conference championships on March 1. He becomes the first Blue Jay to participate in the NCAA championships all four years of his career, and will look to break his own school record of 49.34 seconds set in 2006.

He is also a three-time All-America honoree, having earned the honors in the 800 meters at both the 2007 indoor and outdoor championships along with the distance medley relay at the 2006 indoor championships.

Fisher is seeded in ninth place in the 5,000 meters with a time of 17:25.68 set at the Susquehanna Open on Feb. 16. She previously competed at the NCAA championships in the 10,000-meter run at the 2007 outdoor meet.

She earned All-America honors in cross country with a 15th-place finish at the 2007 championships, after winning the NCAA Mideast Regional championships. Fisher also won her second consecutive MAC cross country title in 2007.

The men's pole vault will be Friday at 5:00 p.m, while the men's 400 meters will hold trials on Friday at 6:05 p.m. and finals on Saturday at 3:15 p.m., with the fastest eight times advancing to finals. The women's 5,000 meters will be held on Saturday at 4:35 p.m.

The top eight finishers in each event will earn All-America status, a distinction awarded 29 times to Elizabethtown College cross country and track and field athletes since 2001. The Blue Jays have had representation at the NCAA Division III indoor and outdoor track and field championships each year since 2003.