May 26, 2006
EMPORIA, Kan. – Southern Connecticut State University junior Merline "Stacey" Egbert (Danbury, Conn.) became a two-time All-American by finishing seventh in the women's triple jump during Day 2 of the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Friday at Emporia State University's Welch Stadium. Southern junior Thatcha DaCosta (Englewood, N.J.) was sixth in the triple jump and also attained All-America status.
DaCosta recorded a school-record distance of 41 feet, 1 ½ inches (12.53 meters) on two of her six jumps to finish second among Northeast region competitors and 2 ½ inches ahead of her teammate. Egbert's 40-11 (12.47m) came on her third attempt. Egbert was also an All-American in the long jump, finishing fifth on Thursday.
For the Southern men on Friday, senior Jon Seymour (Farmington, Conn.) came within nine hundredths of a second of qualifying for the finals in the 800-meter run. Seymour finished third in his heat and 12th overall with a time of one minute, 54.97 seconds.
Owl senior Jeff Cretella (East Haven, Conn.) finished 15th in the shot put with a toss of 50-10 (15.49m). Senior Ivan Schmidt (Bridgeport, Conn.) cleared 6-8 (2.03m) in the high jump, good for 11th place. Schmidt missed out on All-America status by three inches.
Complete results can be viewed at http://flashresults.com/2006_Meets/outdoor/ncaa2/. Championship information is available at http://www.emporia.edu/athletics/track/champ/.
