NCAA Track: Grigsby wins third NCAA long jump title; Friday events added

May 26, 2006
Just one Tommie woman competed Friday at the NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships in Lisle, Ill.

Senior Molly Bauman clocked 15.22 in the 100-meter hurdles prelims and failed to make the nine-person finals.

Kristal Grigsby had qualified for the high jump but didn't compete.

Saturday, Bauman will run the 400 hurdles finals; Selina Dehn will compete in the triple jump; and the Toms' 4x100 relay of Christina Chapman, Grigsby, Kate Staat and Bauman will compete. UST starts the day tied for eighth place.

NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships/Lisle Ill.
Day 2 of 3
Women's team leaders
(8 of 22 events completed)
1. UW-Oshkosh 28; 2. Williams (Mass.) 21; 3. Calvin (Mich.) 18; 4. Bates (Maine) 16; 5. UW-Eau Claire 15. Others: tie 8. St. Thomas 10; tie 27. St. Mary's 4; tie 32. Hamline 3

MIAC Scorers
--Long Jump: 1. Kristal Grigsby, St. Thomas, 19-0 3-4.
--10,000 Meters: 6. Keidra Anderson, Hamline, 36:19.44.
--High Jump: 5. Megan Mason, St. Mary's, 5-7

Thursday


Kristal Grigsby

St. Thomas senior Kristal Grigsby won her third career national championship in the long jump Thursday at the NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships in Lisle, Ill.

Grigsby (SR-Minneapolis/Breck) had a winning leap of 19-0 3-4, just 1-4 inch farther that runner-up Kate Ross of Lewis & Clark. Just six inches separated the first six jumpers, and the first five were all seniors.

The win gave the Tommie women a quick 10 team points. The Toms are tied for fourth place after day one with four of 22 events completed.

It's the third year in a row at outdoor nationals that a St. Thomas athlete won the long jump. Grigsby won in 2004 (all-time conference best of 19-10 3-4) and was third in 2005 (18-11 3-4) behind teammate Andretta Colley (19-5 1-4).

"It feels good to win," Grigsby said. "The thing that I have to remember is that even though you may be ranked (first) going into the event, that doesn't mean you will finish (first). It is important to have realistic expectations.

"It feels really good to finish with the championship. I was ranked (first) at the indoor championships and I didn't do as well as I wanted to, so it feels really good to claim the title."

Grigsby becomes the third UST women track athlete to win at least three NCAA individual titles. Distance runners Kelly Copps (six championships) and Lisa Koelfgen (five) are the most decorated Tommie women in national cross country and track meets.

Grigsby was seeded first in 2006 outdoors after leaping 19-9 1-2 -- the second-best jump in conference history -- May 3 at the Tommie Twilight. She placed sixth nationally indoors last March (18-3 1-4) in another close finish.

It was the ninth career All-America honor for Grigsby with two events to go this weekend. She also won the 2005 indoor title (19-2 1-2).

Grigsby also ran on the Toms' 4x100 relay team which advanced to Saturday's 1 p.m. finals. UST was seeded 12th of 15 entrants but Christina Chapman, Grigsby, Kate Staat and Molly Bauman clocked 47.80 and have the eighth-fastest time in the nine-team finals.

Bauman also qualified for Saturday's finals in the 400 hurdles as she broke a 16-year-old St. Thomas record with a time of 60.83. The old record was 61.64 set by NCAA champ Trish Tinucci in 1990. Bauman was third in her heat, but third among all qualifiers. Freshman Katie Theisen ran 62.50 for second in her heat and 10th overall but missed the nine-person finals.

Grigsby also will compete in Friday's high jump. Selina Dehn will compete in the triple jump.

The Tommies were unable to advance to the finals in the 4x400 relay as they took fourth in their heat in 3:50.68 with Bauman, Chapman, Shionna Evans and Theisen.

Grigsby scored 213 points in seven career MIAC indoor and outdoor track and field meets. She's also contributed to another 40 relay points and has helped the Tommies win seven of a possible eight team titles in her era. She won the long jump at Friday's MIAC meet for her 13th career conference championship.

Kristal twin sister, Shea'na, has won six NCAA titles (five in hurdles, one 4x100 relay) while competing for Carthage. Shea'na is seeded first in the 100 hurdles which has prleims Friday, and had the fastest qualifying time Thursday in the 400 hurdles of 60.19.

Clkick here for a Carthage profile on Shea'na:
see profile here

see link to NCAA track web page here, with links to complete results

NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships
Day 1 of 3
Women's team leaders
(4 of 22 events completed)
1. UW-Eau Claire 15; 2. Williams (Mass.) 14; 3. SUNY-Plattsburgh 12; 4.-tie St. Thomas, UW-Oshkosh, Wilmington (Ohio) 10; 7.-tie Widener (Pa.), Lewis & Clark (Ore.), Calvin (Mich.), Augustana (Ill.) 8. Others: tie 18. Hamline 3
Thursday MIAC Scorers
--Long Jump: 1. Kristal Grigsby, St. Thomas, 19-0 3-4.
--10,000 Meters: 6. Keidra Anderson, Hamline, 36:19.44.