BEREA, OHIO -- Olmsted Falls resident Alex Johnson represented Baldwin-Wallace College at the 2003 NCAA Division III National Outdoor Track and Field Meet at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York on Thursday, May 23. Johnson was one of ten Yellow Jackets who qualified for the meet.
Johnson competed in the discus with a throw of 162-feet and seven inches. He finished fourth in his flight, but did not place overall. A year ago, he qualified in the shot put. Johnson is currently ranked 14th in the discus with a career-best throw of 164-feet and 10 inches. At last year's national meet, at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, he finished in eighth place in his flight of the shot put with a 49'7.75" throw but did not advance to the finals. Johnson advanced to the 2002 national meet with a provisional and career-best toss of 51'4.25".
Overall, B-W had 10 competitors who qualified for the national meet. In addition to Johnson, senior Sarah Guba (Olmsted Falls/ Berea) qualified provisionally in the women's javelin (ranked 26th in Division III), senior Jessica Textoris (Akron/ Medina Highland) automatically qualified in the 3000 meter steeplechase (ranked second in Division III) and provisionally qualified in the 5,000 meter run (20th), senior Tim Budic (Eastlake/ North) qualified automatically in the steeplechase (third in Div. III) and provisionally in the 5,000 meter run (36th), senior Lynn Katanik (Parma/ Padua) qualified provisionally in the 5,000 meter run (23rd), junior Jen Southall (Willoughby/ South) qualified automatically in the women's steeplechase (fourth in Div. III), senior Nicole Drouhard (Canfield/ Austintown Fitch) qualified provisionally in the 10,000 meter run (29th), senior Tara Gruskiewicz (Williamsfield/ Pymatuning Valley) qualified provisionally in the 800 meter run (seventh in Div. III), junior Nikki Bell (McDonald) qualified provisionally in the 400 meter dash and senior Dash McNeal (Crooksville) qualified provisionally in the men's high jump.
FOR MORE INFORMATION on B-W athletics, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by phone at (440) 826-2327, by FAX at (440) 826-2329 or via e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. You can also access all the latest Yellow Jacket track information by logging onto the College Internet Web Site at www.bw.edu/athletics.
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