'Berg Represented by Three at Indoor Nationals
Heidelberg University will have three representatives, in four events, at the 2009 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships hosted by Rose Hulman Institute of Technology March 13-14. Leading the list of qualifiers is defending 55-meter national champion Judy Bataille (Felicity, Ohio / Felicity-Franklin), along with return long jump qualifier and sprinter Julius Higginbotham (Elyria, Ohio / Elyria) and freshman high jumper Tomika Brown (Bellefontaine, Ohio / Bellefontaine).
A total of 446 student-athletes from 134 colleges located in 27 states will compete for national championship honors at the Sports and Recreation Center in Terre Haute. The NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field National Championships will involve 15 men's and 15 women's individual title honors over the two days of competition. Team national champions will also be crowned for the most cumulative points over the 15 events in each gender.
Bataille will look to successfully defend her national title beginning with her preliminary race on Friday, March 13 at 5:25 p.m. A year ago, Bataille won the title by topping her own school record and set a season best for Division III at 7.00. Heading into 2009, she has the fastest qualifying time of the 15 runners at 7.07. Her national championship in 2008 marked just the second female winner, indoor and outdoor combined, at the Berg, but was the third title on the indoor track for men’s and women’s programs combined since 2006.
Higginbotham is back in 2009 to improve on his finish in the long jump from a season ago. He leaped 22’1” in 2008 and just missed the finals. Higginbotham, a junior, will take to the long jump pit on Friday beginning at 3:30 p.m. Heading into the weekend he is tied for sixth in the nation with a qualifying leap of 23’3.25”.
Not to be outdone, Higginbotham has also qualified for nationals in the 55-meter dash. It is the first time that he has qualified for multiple events on either the indoor or outdoor tracks. Higginbotham qualified for the event with a school record time of 6.39, which sits eighth in the field. He runs his preliminary race at 5:35 p.m. Friday.
Making an immediate impact on the indoor track this season has been Brown. In just her first year she is a national qualifier in the high jump. She will look to claim All-American honors beginning on Friday at 3:30 p.m.
To get a closer look at the entire field at nationals visit the championship website at: http://www.rose-hulman.edu/sports/ncaatrack/