Below are athletes to watch at the meet by virtue of their top-10 NCAA Division
II ranking:
Women:
9th place - West Texas A&M: Morgan Shelton, SR (Heptathlon)
12th place - Angelo State: Jordan Gray, SO (Heptathlon)
13th place - Abilene Christian: Cassie Brooks, SR (Heptathlon)
4th in Finals - Angelo State: Theresa Sue, SR (Long Jump)
4th in Prelim - Qualified for Finals - Abilene Christian: Chloe Susset, SR (1500m)
13th in Prelim - Qualified for Finals - Harding: Ewa Zaborowska, SO (1500m)
18th in Prelim - Did not Qualify for Finals - WTAM Mireia Guarner (1500m)
12th in Prelim - Did not Qualify for Finals - Harding: Portia Bell, SR (100m)
22nd in Prelim - Did not Qualify for Finals - WTAM Sarah Snider (100m)
11th in Prelim - Qualified for Finals - ACU: Chloe Susset, SR (3000m Steeple)
7th in Prelim - Qualified for Finals - WTAM Brenda Sindet (3000m Steeple)
Angelo State: Jaylen Rodgers, SO (800m)
West Texas A&M: Tanesha Blair, SR
(Javelin)
Angelo State: Kimberly Williams, SR (Javelin)
Texas A&M-Commerce: Ashley Ross, SO (Discus)
Angelo State: Kearah Danville, JR (Triple Jump)
Abilene Christian: Amanda Ouedraogo, SR (Triple Jump)
Texas A&M-Kingsville: Amanda Haven, JR (High Jump)
Tarleton State: Nikki McNorton, JR (High Jump)
Harding:
Kristen Celsor, JR (High Jump)
Men:
9th after 7 events - Seth Pearson, Angelo State - Decathlon
2nd Place - Abilene Christian: Baptiste Kerjean, SR (Hammer Throw)
10th Place- Texas A&M-Kingsville: CJ Griggs, JR (Long Jump)
18th Place - Texas A&M-Commerce: Dakota Fountain, FR (Long Jump)
12th in Prelims, Qualified for finals - West Texas A&M: Dylan Doss, SO (3000m Steeple)
14th in Prelims, DNQ for finals - ENMU Kaspars Briska (3000m Steeple)
12th in Prelims, DNQ for finals - West Texas A&M: Kenny Jackson, JR (100m)
11th in Prelims, DNQ for finals - Incarnate Word: Tommy Brown, SR (100m)
15th in Prelims, DNQ for finals (100m) - ACU: Johnathan Farquarshon, FR (100m)
Texas
A&M-Kingsville: Jeron Robinson, SO (High Jump)
Texas
A&M-Kingsville: Jordan Yamoah, FR (Pole Vault)
Texas A&M-Kingsville: CJ Griggs, JR (Triple Jump)
West Texas A&M: Kenny Jackson, JR (200m)
Incarnate Word: Tommy Brown, SR (200m)
Angelo State: Isidro Garcia, SR (800m)
Abilene Christian: Andrew Hudson, JR (Discus)
Incarnate
Word: Chance Dziuk, JR (Discus)
West Texas A&M: Cameron
Lacour, JR (110H)
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and our old friends at Central Oklahoma got things going, with a 5-2 win over Armstrong Atlantic
Also from NCAA.com...
The diversity of teams coming to Salem, Va., for the 2013 NCAA Division II
Softball Championships is so great, finding a team to pull for will be easy.
Do you like frontrunners? There’s plenty of those in the eight-team field, as
four of the eight top regional seeds made it to final weekend of the season. How about teams that got hot just in time for postseason? There’s a few of
those, as well. And for the fan of the underdog, there’s Kutztown, which got into the
Atlantic sub-region tournament with a No. 6 seed, then allowed just three runs
during the sub-regions and super regions on the way to claiming its spot in the
bracket.
Play is scheduled to begin at the James I. Moyer Sports Complex at noon
Thursday when Southeast Region champion Armstrong Atlantic State –- ranked No. 4
in the final Division II regular-season poll – takes on Central Region champion
Central Oklahoma.
Three more games will follow that contest on Thursday in this
double-elimination event.
Following is a brief look at each of the eight competing institutions:
Valdosta State (46-11)
The defending national champion
Blazers are one of four No. 1 seeds to make it to Salem and was ranked No. 3 in
the country in final coaches’ poll of the regular season. They did get a test in
last weekend’s super regional, needing to go the distance in their best-of-three
matchup with Gulf South Conference rival Alabama-Huntsville.
Armstrong Atlantic State (42-8-1)
The fourth-ranked
Pirates had to play its way out of its Southeast regional through the losers’
bracket. They avenged their loss to Columbus State by sweeping the Cougars by
scores of 6-2 and 6-2 on the last day of the tournament.
Humboldt State (51-12)
The West Region’s representative
is ranked No. 5 and has won 16 consecutive games. Region player of the year
Chrissy Stalf is batting .400 with 27 home runs.
Texas Woman’s (51-12)
Ranked No. 6 at regular-season’s
end, the Pioneers swept their way through the South Central region and earned
the school’s first trip to championship tournament. TWU also got through the
super regional by sweeping St. Edwards, the opponent that knocked the Pioneers
out of the last year’s NCAA regional tournament.
Grand Valley State (44-7)
The Lakers qualified for both
the softball and baseball Division II championships. The softball team, ranked
No. 9, earned its place by winning its super regional on the road against the
nation’s top-ranked team, Indianapolis.
Central Oklahoma (47-11)
The Bronchos did not reach the
final in their conference tournament, but then traveled to the home field of
Mid-American Intercollegiate rival Fort Hays State and won the regional. Central
Oklahoma followed that up with a pair of wins against Winona State.
Molloy (52-12)
One of two finalists not ranked in the
final coaches’ poll, the Lions took advantage of being named the host team for
their East Regional and advance to the super regional, where they swept host
Adelphi. Molloy is as hot as any team in the tournament. The Lions’ last three
games have been victories by scores of 6-0, 7-0 and 8-0.
Kutztown (34-21)
Late bloomers? Perhaps. The Bears lost
14 of 17 games during March and early April. Still, the offense scored an
average of more than five runs per game during the postseason, sweeping Kutztown
through the conference, regional and super regional tournaments. The Bears will
still be playing the underdog role. They’re unranked, while all three of the
other teams on their side of the bracket were either No. 1 or No. 2
seeds.
