INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- Pole vaulters senior Dana Fineman and junior Ryan Karnopp of the Moravian College indoor track & field teams have qualified to compete in the 2015 NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships being hosted by Roanoke College and JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Friday, March 13.
Fineman is making her first-ever trip to the NCAA Championships. Fineman enters the meet tied for the ninth-best height in the country this season, a career-best mark of 3.71 meters (12-2) at the ECAC Division III Indoor Championships this past Friday that gave her a third place finish at the meet. The women's pole vault is scheduled for Friday beginning at 11:00 p.m.
Karnopp is making his second appearance at the NCAA Indoor Championships and third overall for the Greyhounds. He earned All-America honors during last year's indoor meet with a seventh-place finish at 4.75 meters (15-7). Karnoppp set a Moravian and Landmark Conference record of 5.05 meters (16-6.75) at the Kutztown University Last Chance Invitational on February 21 to enter the national meet in fourth place on the performance list. Karnopp will also compete on Friday as the men's pole vault begins at 3:30 p.m.
"Dana and Ryan have had a renewed focus this year which is why they've improved so much and are representing Moravian at the NCAAs," commented Head Coach Jesse Baumann. "Our coaches worked on a lot at aspects of their vault which led to some hiccups in the season, at the beginning of indoor for Dana, and the middle of the season for Ryan, but now they're jumping as well as ever.
"What's really encouraging is their consistency over the last few weeks which is what's most important at the NCAAs," continued Baumann. "Dana has jumped 11'11" or higher in four of her last five meets and Ryan has now jumped above 15'7" (the height that earned him All American last March) for three consecutive meets. As a staff we say this all the time, when it comes to the big end-of-season meets it's not about setting some huge PR. If you can just replicate the performance that got you to the NCAAs, the vast majority of the time you'll come home an All American. All they have to do is what they've already done repeatedly over the past month and they'll place well down in North Carolina. They're both healthy, had a great meet at ECACs, and are jumping well at the right time of the season which is all you can ask for headed into this meet."
The NCAA changed qualifying back in 2012. Instead of automatic and provisional marks as had been used in the past, starting three years ago, the top 15 men's times/distances and the top 17 women's times/distances in individual events and the top 12 relay times for both genders on the Track & Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS) list will compete at the NCAA meet.
Competition at the JDL Fast Track begins at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Friday and 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. You can stay up-to-date on the NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships at http://www.ncaa.com/diii-mens-and-womens-track-field-championship-results. The NCAA will also be streaming the meet at http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/2015/03/13.
