3 ALL AMERICA WINNERS LEAD MIT AT NATIONALS
March 15, 2003
Brian Anderson continued to run well in the 800, placing third at the indoor NCAA championships held at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana this weekend. Anderson's performance led the three All America winners from MIT, guiding them to a 10 point total, good for a tie at 16th place.
In the trials of the 800, run Friday night, Anderson took the lead at the start and stayed there, running splits of 26, 54, 1:23 for a final time of 1:54.44. The track had a small radius, which meant tight turns on the 200 oval, helping to keep the times a little on the slow side.
The finals of the 800 were the next day, giving Anderson a much needed recovery. The eventual winner, Matt Groose of Wisconsin Oshkosh, took the lead with a blazing leadoff 200 of 25 and never looked back. Anderson followed, but not too closely, coming through near identical splits as the night before. Only one other runner followed Anderson through the quick pace. After the third 200, the gap between the three lead runners and the rest of the field was over 15 meters. Anderson faded a bit in the final 200, giving up 2nd place by less than a second to Josh Zobenica of Lynchburg College. Anderson's final time of 1:54.26 was an all time best for him on a flat indoor track.
Earning his 4th All America honor, Craig Mielcarz jumped 6-9 3/4 to place 7th. In an unusually deep field, eight jumpers cleared 6-9 3/4. Possibly a little rusty from his two weeks off with a foot injury, Mielcarz missed once at 6-6 and twice at 6-9 3/4. While only 2 jumpers cleared 6-11 3/4, Mielcarz placed below most of the other jumpers clearing 6-9 3/4 due to his number of misses at that height.
Freshman Uzoma Orji, managed to come back through what is becoming an annual throwing event debacle and finish 7th with a throw of 52-11 1/2 in the shot put. In the original competition, the officials allowed the house shot, which was a 14 lb. implement, to enter the competition. Those using the implement threw approximately 5 feet further than they had previously done this year. Orji finished 7th in that competition as well with a legal throw of 53-3 1/2. Fortunately the record was thought to have been broken and the implement used weighed again. What was obvious to many became official and the competition was scheduled to be run again three and half hours later. Orji, who had an injured ankle that he seemed to ignore in the morning competition, was unable to keep from limping on his blocking foot. Nevertheless, he managed to stick the throw that earned him what will likely be the first of many All America awards.