Morton and Stephens Earn All America Honors
March 14-15, 2008
The first event for MIT at the 2008 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championship hosted by Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio, was the long jump. There were 14 jumpers and only nine were going to make the final round. Morton jumped 6.85 meters (22-5) on his first attempt and did not improve that jump in the trials. He was fourth out of sevn in the first flight and had to sit through the second flight, hoping his mark would beat two jumpers. As it turned out he was tied for eighth with the jumper from SUNY Geneseo, both of whom were the last seeds in the field. In the finals Morton improved his mark first to 6.90 and then 6.95 (22-9) to place eighth overall, earning his first All America award at his first NCAA Championship event. The winning jump of 23-11 3/4 was made by Beresford Brown of Moravian College.
Later in the afternoon, Omari Stephens took the field in the pole vault. Seeded eighth going in with a mark of 4.90 meters (16-0 3/4) Stephens cleared the opening height of 15-3 even though he hit the cross bar on the way over. Four jumpers no-heighted at that first height. At 15-9, Stephens cleared on his second attempt, virtually displacing the bar with his leg and then settling it back on with his chest for a remarkable clear. At 16-1 3/4, Stephens made a great attempt on his third effort but was unable to clear the height. Seven individuals cleared the height with the season's best jumper still not coming in. At the next height, 16-5 1/2, Bina of North Central came in but also no-heighted, giving Stephens an unexpected eighth place and his first All America honor. The winning vault was made by Jonny Henkins of Monmouth College at 16-9 1/2.
On Saturday, Morton was back on stage in the triple jump. Acombination of jumping at 10:00 A.M. and on the second day of a two day competition put the sophomore in unchartered territory and it showed as he failed to make finals by .02cm. with a jump of 46-0.
MIT tied at 56th place with two points. This marks the end of a very successful season for the Engineers. Next on their agenda is a week of hard training on their spring trip to California, spending time in Claremont and competing in San Diego at Point Loma Nazarene University on March 29.