National Indoor-Final

MAR. 9, 2002

Two Members of Bulldog Track & Field Teams Come Home with All-America Honors

Two members of the Truman State University track & field teams brought home all-America honors on Saturday from the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships in Boston.

On the men's side, freshman James Walton (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale South) captured a national runner-up finish in the long jump with a leap of 24'-2.25". Walton, who also serves as a wide receiver on the Bulldog football squad, finished an 1.5 inches ahead of third place Jamaica Rector of Northwest Missouri State. Kevin Bartlett, of Lincoln, won with a distance of 25'-8.75". It ties Walton for the best Bulldog individual finish ever at the indoor championships and is the top Truman individual indoor finish since 1996, when Shawn Weber finished second in the triple jump.

The women's team also had one athlete, senior Megan Williams (Columbia, Mo./Hickman), collect all-America honors. Williams ran a school record time of 8.70 seconds in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles, good enough for fourth place. It's the second straight indoor all-America award for Williams, who is also a two-time outdoor all-America in the 100-meter high hurdles.

Final team scoring found the Bulldog men finishing in 21st with a total of eight points. Abilene Christian (Texas) won the men's championship with 74 points. The Truman women were 27th with five points in the meet won by North Dakota State, which tallied 67.5.

Also for the Truman men, junior Ben Rosario (St. Louis/SLUH) was 10th in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 15:03.36.

Senior Karena Singleton (Glenwood, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) logged a 12th-place showing for the Bulldog women the triple jump, as she leaped 37'-1.25".

The Bulldog track & field teams will now turn their attention toward the 2002 outdoor schedule, which begins on March 22 with the Vernon Kennedy Decathlon/Heptathlon in Warrensburg.