Michael Pecha

The SDSU indoor track season concluded this past weekend in Boston, as seven Jackrabbits earned All-American honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

“This was the best NCAA meet our teams have had since I began,” head track and field coach Paul Danger said. “We had nine athletes qualify for the National Championships, and seven came back with All-American honors. We also had three personal best efforts which is great to be able to do at the Championships.”

Sheena Dauer surprised the field in the 5,000 meter run, finishing second in 16 minutes 51.77 seconds.

“Sheena had the finest race of her career,” Danger said. “She was one of the last qualifiers by time coming into the meet, and then went out and ran a 35 second personal best. She put in a lot of effort the last four weeks of the season and it all paid off.”

Cori Vining and Jennifer Stovall capped off their seasons by finishing fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 60 meter hurdles. Vining finished in 8.88 seconds, while Stovall finished right along side Vining in 8.89 seconds.

“The women hurdlers performed just as we had hoped,” Danger said. “We needed them both to make it to finals. They did that, and then went on to have great races.”

Jamie Keck finished 10th in the triple jump with a leap of 37 feet 8.5 inches.

Erin Woolley finished 13th in the 5,000 meter run at 17:28.

“Jamie and Erin both had good performances, and this will provide valuable help going into the outdoor season,” Danger said.

On the men’s side, Brad Lowery and Matt Pearson finished fifth and seventh, respectively, in a very competitive mile.

Lowery’s time of 4:05.33 was a personal best, as was Pearson’s time of 4:07.22.

Three seconds separated first place from seventh place, with only one and a half seconds from first to sixth.

Greg Darbyshire matched his personal best in the 5,000 meter run at 14 minutes 22.64 seconds. Darbyshire finished seventh.

“Greg showed that he can run with the most talented in our division,”Danger said. “Greg drifted back from the lead group, but closed the gap in the last 1,000 meters.”

David Hegland finished eighth in the 60 meter hurdles in 8.15 seconds.

“Even though Dave did not set a personal best, he kept great composure and secured his first All-American honor,” Danger said. “The Championships is not always about doing something new, sometimes it is about just doing as you have all season. Dave is a very consistent hurdler and this is very important at the Championships.”

The Jacks now have a few weeks to recover before competing in their first outdoor meet on April 5 at Northwest Missouri State University.