ALBUQUERQUE – Slippery Rock University will be represented by four student-athletes at the 2010 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field National Championships next weekend. Two members each of The Rock's men's and women's teams were accepted into the championships Wednesday.
Representing the SRU men's team will be seniors
Phil Rector and
Brady Wert, who both set school records this winter in their respective events.
Rector was accepted into the championships in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:52.28, which ranks as the seventh-fastest time in the nation this season. This will be Rector's first appearance at a national championship meet.
Wert was accepted in the heptathlon after posting a personal best score of 5,016 points at last weekend's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship meet. Wert's score ranks as the fifth-best mark in the nation this season. He will also be making his first appearance at a national championship.
The Rock women will be represented by senior
Jen Hansen and junior
Kim Stitt.
Hansen is no stranger to the national championships, as the four-time PSAC pole vault champion already owns five All-America awards between the indoor and outdoor meets. She secured her berth in this winter's meet after winning her fourth PSAC title and leading the conference with a clearance of 3.90 meters, which ranks fourth in the nation this season.
Hansen will be joined by Stitt, who is in her first season at Slippery Rock. Stitt secured a place in the triple jump with her leap of 11.93 meters at the PSAC meet last weekend. That mark ranks 13th in the nation this winter.
The top-eight finishers in each event at the national championships earn All-America honors from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
The national meet is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, March 12-13, at the Convention Center in Albuqueque, N.M. That facility, which was home to the U.S. Indoor Championships this season as well, is regarded as one of the top indoor track and field facilities in the world.
