ORJI TUNES-UP FOR NCAA'S WITH IC4A WEIGHT THROW VICTORY
March 4-5, 2006
With only two IC4A qualifiers, MIT was previewing what it would be like at next week's NCAA Division III Championship at this weekend's IC4A championship being held at Boston University. Nate Ball, seeded third at the IC4A championship is tied for third seed at the NCAA championship. Uzoma Orji, seeded third in the weight throw and fourth in the shot put at the IC4A championship is seeded second and first respectively at the NCAA championship. The opportunity to score a record number of points in the modern era was at hand.
Ball led off in the vault. Looking good in warmups, Ball was unable to make it work. Unable to clear a height, Ball has to settle for waiting until next week to put it all together. Orji started slow in the 35lb. weight throw, finishing fourth after the trials. On his first throw of the finals, Orji threw 63' to move into third place. On his second throw he took over the lead with a 64' 9 effort. On his final throw he put the event away with a new MIT record of 65' 1 1/2 to become Tech's first ever IC4A weight throw winner and the first champion in any event in the modern era (since 1960).
In the shot put, Orji could not find the position in the front of the circle to be able to really put everything into the throw. After the trials he was in fourth position with a throw of 55-2 1/4. In the finals Orji could not improve his mark and was passed by one thrower. Nevertheless, his 14 points was certainly pretty incredible at this very prestigious meet.
Next week, Orji and Ball head to St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota for the NCAA Division III. The pole vault and weight throw will be contested on Friday and the shot put on Saturday. Schedule and results can be found at http://www.stolaf.edu/athletics/ncaatr/schedule.htm