FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 28, 2016
BRADENTON, Fla. – Merrimack junior Carly Muscaro reigned supreme once again, this time at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field National Championships, defending her 400-meter dash national title with a time of 51.32 seconds – just .03 seconds shy of the meet record – ending her outdoor campaign as a national champion.
The title marks the second individual national championship in Merrimack Athletics history, both of which belong to Muscaro.
The 400-meter Final marked the first of two championships races on the docket for Muscaro, as she also competed in the 200-meter dash on Saturday evening.
Racing out of the fourth lane, Merrimack's All-American sprinted out to an early advantage, and never looked back, pulling ahead of the pack by a significant margin. As she crossed the finish line, its appeared that Muscaro had a shot at the meet record – a mark of 51.29 seconds set in 2006 by Davita Prendergast of Lincoln University – but the official posting had the two-time champion's final time at 51.32 seconds.
Muscaro successfully defended her indoor national title in the 400-meter dash. That championship marked the first individual national title in Warriors history, across all programs, with the outdoor title marking the first in the spring season in women's track & field history.
The 200-meter race pitted the Ashland native in the fifth lane, next to top-seeded Trisana Fairweather, the only athlete to post a faster time than Muscaro during the preliminary heats.
As the race started, three sprinters pulled ahead of Muscaro, who found another gear at 10-second mark and roared into second place. A neck-and-neck finish resulted, with Muscaro and Fairweather reaching the finish line simultaneously. The sophomore from Claflin University prevailed, however, registering a time of 23.21 seconds, a mere .01 seconds ahead of the Navy and Gold's All-American.
Reporting for this release provided by the Merrimack athletics communications staff
ABOUT THE NORTHEAST-10
The Northeast-10 Conference is an association of 15 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 6,500 student-athletes.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
