May 23rd, 2009
(400 FINAL RESULTS listed below)
(Photos of Staci Jackson by Patrick Zarate)
NCAA DIII Championships
MARIETTA, Ohio – Texas Lutheran senior sprinter Staci Jackson set a new school record and career best time in finishing third in the 400-meter dash Saturday at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
At Marietta College's Don Drumm Stadium, Jackson (Dallas/Lake Highlands) posted a time of 54.81 seconds and trailed only national champion Liz Kooistra of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Robin Yerkes of Roanoke College to the finish line.
Kooistra won the national crown with a Don Drumm Stadium record time of 54.29 seconds. Yerkes was second, just ahead of Jackson, with a time of 54.78.
Kooistra, Yerkes and Jackson each set NCAA Division III season bests in the final.
"Staci really picked it up in her last 200 to 150 meters and made her move," said Patrick Zarate, TLU's head coach for women's track and field. "She finished very strong and overall ran a great race."
Jackson's third-place showing in the 400 is the highest individual placement at a national championship in TLU's NCAA Division III athletics history. (TLU first competed for national championships in NCAA Division III in the 2002-03 athletics seasons.)
As a Bulldog, Jackson is a two-time relay national champion, with national titles in the 2007 NCAA Division III indoor 4x400 and in the 2008 NCAA Division III outdoor 4x100.
With the third-place finish, Jackson added to her school-record haul of All-America honors. The 400 All-America award is Jackson's 10th at TLU. (Jackson has 11 individual All-America citations overall after claiming one with McMurry in 2006.)
Jackson's All-America award in the 400 is her third consecutive in the event. She was eighth in the 400 in 2007, sixth in 2008, and now third in 2009.
In her three-year track career at TLU, Jackson's nine previous All-America citations were produced in the following events: the 2007 indoor 4x400 relay (1st), the 2007 outdoor 400 (8th), 2007 outdoor 4x100 relay (3rd), 2007 outdoor 4x400 relay (7th); 2008 indoor 400 (6th), 2008 indoor 4x400 relay (3rd); 2008 outdoor 400 (6th), 2008 outdoor 4x100 (1st), and 2008 outdoor 4x400 (2nd).
Jackson has won or been a part of 11 conference titles, and she holds eight TLU school records in indoor and outdoor track and field. She was the 2007 and 2009 ASC Women’s Track Athlete of the Year, the 2007 and 2009 TLU Female Athlete of the Year, and the 2007 NCAA DIII South/Southeast Region Women’s Track Athlete of the Year.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL - 400 Meter Dash
NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio
1 Liz Kooistra, Sr, Wisconsin Eau Claire 54.29
DIII season's best
Don Drumm Stadium record
Was 54.34; Davis, Christopher Newport, 1981
2 Robin Yerkes, Jr, Roanoke College 54.78
DIII season's best
3 Staci Jackson, Sr, Texas Lutheran 54.81
DIII season's best
4 Nevada Morrison, Fr, Wartburg College 55.05
5 Hannah Baker, Jr, Wartburg College 55.17
6 Cara Riffe, Sr, Thiel College 56.47
7 Marcia McCord, So, Ithaca College 56.55
8 Kathleen Folbrecht, Jr, Wisconsin Stevens Pt 56.59
400 Meter Dash
Preliminary Rounds Friday
Round 1, Heat 1
1 Staci Jackson, Sr, Texas Lutheran 55.74Q
2 Cara Riffe, Sr, Thiel College 56.10q
3 Nevada Morrison, Fr, Wartburg College 56.34q
4 Kathleen Folbrecht, Jr, Wisconsin Stevens Pt 56.53q
5 Nikki Arola, Jr, Univ of St. Thomas 56.79
6 Shionna Evans, Sr, Univ of St. Thomas 57.16
Round 1, Heat 2
1 Liz Kooistra, Sr, Wisconsin Eau Claire 56.35Q
2 Keelie Finnel, Fr, Coe College 56.93
3 Chelsey Jacobs, Jr, Wartburg College 57.09
4 Lauren Brightmore, So, North Central College 57.38
5 Claire McGroder, Jr, Pomona-Pitzer 57.67
6 Laura Simonis, Sr, Wisconsin Stevens Pt 58.56
Round 1, Heat 3
1 Robin Yerkes, Jr, Roanoke College 55.91Q
2 Hannah Baker, Jr, Wartburg College 55.97q
3 Marcia McCord, So, Ithaca College 56.26q
4 Heather Koning, Jr, Calvin College 56.88
5 Caitlin McGeehan, Jr, Hendrix College 57.25
6 Jenny Kordick, Jr, Wartburg College 57.57
Final Lane Assignments
Last year's winner: 54.35; Rachel Anderson, Sr, Illinois Wesleyan
NCAA Championships record: 53.45; Genesia Eddins, U Mass-Boston, 1988
Don Drumm Stadium record: 54.34; Davis, Christopher Newport, 1981
All-time DIII best: 53.45; Genesia Eddins, U Mass-Boston, 1988
Qual
Lane Name Team Time
1 Kathleen Folbrecht, Jr Wisconsin Stevens Pt 56.53
2 Cara Riffe, Sr Thiel College 56.10
3 Liz Kooistra, Sr Wisconsin Eau Claire 56.35
4 Staci Jackson, Sr Texas Lutheran 55.74
5 Robin Yerkes, Jr Roanoke College 55.91
6 Hannah Baker, Jr Wartburg College 55.97
7 Marcia McCord, So Ithaca College 56.26
8 Nevada Morrison, Fr Wartburg College 56.34