D II Conference Previews

February 26, 2008

The 23rd annual Division II National Championships, to be held at Minnesota-Mankatoâ€™s Myers Field house, is less than three weeks away. As excitement builds for this event, I thought I would take a break from my weekly interviews in order to highlight the teams and athletes to watch at the upcoming conference meets. (Three conferences have already finished their meets: Central intercollegiate Athletic association, Great Northwest Athletic Conferance, and Northwest 10.)

Great Lake Intercollegiate Athletic Conference -According to U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches association, Ashland should easily sweep this conference on the menâ€™s side. On the womenâ€™s side it will be a close meet between Ashland and Grand Valley State. In the womenâ€™s 400m the race to watch will be between Ashlandâ€™s Stephanie Tinney and Hillsdaleâ€™s power-duo Jazmin Williams and Marta Scheiwe. The menâ€™s 400m will be a tight competition between Ashlandâ€™s Joe Horn and Hillsdaleâ€™s Jared Krout. Ashlandâ€™s Dan Tierney has the highest Division II pole vault mark of the season with his vault of 5.06m. Findlayâ€™s Kirby Blackley has the fastest mark in the womenâ€™s 60m hurdles with a time of 8.33.

Great Lakes Valley Conference -On the menâ€™s side it looks like the obvious favorite for the team title is Southern Illinois University. On the womenâ€™s side it looks like a tight competition for the team title between Lewis University and Southern Illinois University. Southern Illinoisâ€™s Kyle Rose has the fastest Division II time in the nation for the menâ€™s 400m (47.65) and should provide a good race. Wisconsin-Parksideâ€™s Naomi Fulton currently ranks third in the nation in the womenâ€™s mile with a time of 4:56. Her teammate Jessica Lamp has run a 2:10 for the 800m.

Mid American Intercollegiate- On the menâ€™s side it will be between Central Missouri and Pittsburg State for the team title. On the womenâ€™s side it will be between Missouri Southern and Central Missouri. In the menâ€™s 60m dash it could be a close race between Emporiaâ€™s Kenton Lonberger(6.83) and Northwest Missouri Stateâ€™s E.J. Faulkner(6.85).

North Central -On both the menâ€™s and womenâ€™s side it looks like it will be a close competition for the team title between Augunstana College and University of Nebraska at Omaha. Nebraska-Omahaâ€™s Pinar Saka owns the fastest Division II times in the womenâ€™s 200m (24.49) and 400m (53.91). Minnesota State-Mankatoâ€™s Katelin Rains has the highest mark for the womenâ€™s pole vault with the height of 4.28m. Her teammate Denise Mokaya has the second fastest time in the menâ€™s 800m with a time of 1:51.41.

Northern Sun Intercollegiate -In the quest for the menâ€™s team title it appears to be a competition between Northern State, Minnesota State University-Moorhead and Wayne State- Nebraska. For the womenâ€™s team title the competition is between Wayne State Nebraska, Winona State and Minnesota State University-Moorhead. Moorheadâ€™s Ashley Roemer will be one to watch in the womenâ€™s 800m having a current time of 2:12.

Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference -In both the menâ€™s and womenâ€™s side in the team competition, it appears to be a race between Shippensburg and Kuztown with both Lockhaven and Slippery rock competing. Lockhavenâ€™s Chelsea Morse currently holds the third highest jump in the high jump with 1.74m.

Rocky Mountain Conference -The team competition on both menâ€™s and womenâ€™s side will be dominated by Adamâ€™s State. The possible underdogs include Western State, Chadron State and University of Nebraska-Kearney. Adams Stateâ€™s Nick Lara (1:51.89) will have a tight race with Colorado School of the Mineâ€™s Mark Husted (1:52.45) in the menâ€™s 800m run. In the womenâ€™s 200m dash Adams State teammates Sherline Duncan and Indira Spence will have a close race, both having run 24.89. Adams Stateâ€™s Tanya Gaumer has the second fastest mile time in Division II with a 4:54.

The above is just a shortpreview of this weekendâ€™s conference meets. I will hopefully be back next week with a recap of all the conference meets (including those that have already occurred). I will see you then with fast times and qualifying marks.

Post a Comment

#17	Sarah_x February 27, 2008 at 1:34pm i was talking about cara, not ashland. reply
#16	Yep February 27, 2008 at 1:20pm Sarah_x...shut up...Ashland will not win...bottom line reply
#15	Joe_x February 26, 2008 at 9:10pm i dont know what to think really. i mean there arnt many other writers out there that write about d2 and i love the fact that she does it, but i defently agree with alot of you guys. the writer needs to add something that the power rankings dont have. maybe some research on past conference meets or and inside view on something. but i like what the writer is writing about. reply
#14	GLIAC Runner February 26, 2008 at 7:17pm wow first off you can't even get the name of the GLIAC conference right. 2nd I would be willing to bet a large sum of money that Grand Valley, not Ashland won both men's and women's (of course I wouldn't since that is a NCAA violation). Not 100% confident about the women's, but I know Grand Valley's men's team would be extremely tough to beat. And it hurts me deeply that you even look at the USTFCCCA rankings. reply
#13	Dan Suher February 26, 2008 at 6:15pm I was going to say that track looked familiar, and that is cause I raced on it this past weekend. reply
#12	Come On February 26, 2008 at 4:07pm Well if the writers actually did some research before just looking at power rankings than maybe they wouldnt get bashed. This article was obviously written very quickly and with no knowledge of division 2. Im just saying. Get a writer that gives a crap. reply
#11	DIII Athlete February 26, 2008 at 3:47pm FYI... the pic up there is the gantcher center at tufts university. reply
#10	Sarah_x February 26, 2008 at 2:31pm hey maybe people should stop being assholes. what do ya'll want from her? no matter what she writes about ya'll have to leave negative comments. LAME. if you all think you could do so much better do it. reply
#9	Wow... February 26, 2008 at 2:29pm you know eventually, I think these writers might just give up if you people like tool just keep treating them like dirt..I would not blame them.. reply
#8	Cara Hawkins February 26, 2008 at 2:27pm thanks Tool... reply
#7	Tool February 26, 2008 at 2:10pm ya...this sucks...nice power rankings. reply
#6	GLIAC February 26, 2008 at 1:50pm Ashland should sweep the GLIAC pretty easily on the mens side??????? ummmmm hasn't grand valley won the last 4,5,6 maybe 7 conference champs? I dont think they will go down that "easy" reply
#5	Cara Hawkins February 26, 2008 at 1:47pm gotcha yeah reply
#4	MSU Runner February 26, 2008 at 1:13pm Just trying to help you out....not ripping you reply
#3	MSU Runner February 26, 2008 at 1:13pm This is referring to the NSIC conference write up....Ashley has now run 2.12 and i dont think there is a Damian Prince in the NSIC let alone on the Mens Moohead State Track and Field Team reply
#2	Cara Hawkins February 26, 2008 at 10:58am I can't believe I missed you guys, I'll edit later.. reply
#1	Joshua Neyhart February 26, 2008 at 10:14am on the men's side for the PSAC it's going to be between Ship, Lock Haven, and Slippery Rock, and for women it will be Ship and Slippery Rock reply