Carsyn Koch of Washburn achieved All-America status on Saturday with her performance in the 800-meter run at the NCAA Division II Women’s Track and Field Championships at at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan.
The freshman, representing Cedarville (Ohio) University, finished as the runner-up in her first national championship finals event.
Koch ran the 800 in a personal- and school-record time of 2 minutes, 5.21 seconds, but senior Lindsey Butterworth of Simon Fraser University took the title with an NCAA record time of 2:02.88.
Koch, a former multi-sport standout at Washburn, was the top qualifier in Friday’s 800 preliminaries, where she clocked a 2:06.85.
Koch had prepared for the biggest meet of her young career by winning two events at the National Christian College Athletic Association outdoor championship at Rome, Georgia, earlier this month.
Koch won the 1,500 in 4:24.26 seconds, which was the seventh fastest time in Division II this spring. She also claimed the 800 in 2:12.62.
On April 24, she sped to her previous career best in the 800 with a time of 2:07.25 at the Triton Invitational in San Diego. That shattered a school record (2:09.19) set in 1986 by U.S. Olympic Trials participant Jane Romig Brooker.
USM athletes finish second in national meet
University of Southern Maine senior Jamie Ruginski of Buxton earned the eighth All-American citation of his career Saturday when he finished second in the triple jump at the NCAA Division III Outdoor National Championships held this weekend at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York.
Ruginski posted a mark of 50 feet, 7 ½ inches to take the runner-up spot in the event behind senior Chris Perry of Bridgewater State University (50-11).
For his three-year career at USM, Ruginski won four national titles (three triple jump, one long jump), had three runner-up finishes and one third-place finish to collect his eight All-American citations.
During the first day of competition on Thursday, Ruginski won the long jump title when he landed a school-record leap of 24-6 ¼.
USM senior Peyton Dostie also finished second in the national meet when she smashed the school record for the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:00.13.
Senior Marissa Mahr of the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse held off a surging Dostie to win the title with her time of 59.95 seconds.
Dostie eclipsed the previous school-record time of 1:00.80 set by Hannah Wiley in May 2012, and took 0.83 seconds off her previous career best time of 1:00.96 set eight days ago at the ECAC Division III Outdoor Championships. Dostie qualified for Saturday’s final running the fourth quickest time (1:01.45) in the preliminary round on Thursday.
With her runner-up finish, Dostie earned her second All-American citation of the year. She received her first All-American honor during the indoor season when she finished seventh in the pentathlon.
Dostie is the sixth USM female track and field athlete to earn outdoor All-America honors, and the first since Bethany Dumas (javelin) and Molly Carl (3,000-meter steeplechase) in 2012.
Colby College junior Alanna McDonough of Andover, Massachusetts, also earned All-American status and had her best time ever in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in taking sixth place at the track championships Saturday.
McDonough had a successful day with her time of 10:42.03. A two-time New England Small College Athletic Conference champion in the steeplechase, McDonough’s previous best time was 10:44.48.
In last year’s NCAA meet, McDonough finished in 10th place in 10:54.58. She had a clocking of 10:49.64 in Thursday’s preliminary race when the field went from 22 to Saturday’s 14 for the final.
Washington (Missouri) University senior Lucy Cheadle defended her national title in a dominating way. She had a winning time of 10:25.32 after capturing last year’s national title in 10:20.06.