FOREST, Va. --- The five athletes representing the ODAC and their respective schools at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships have done much more than just show up in Naperville, Ill. Each standout has earned at least one All-American award thru nearly two days of competition at the Res Rec Center at North Central College.
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At the time of this release, the 4x400-meter relay results had not yet been posted, which leaves just the major awards to be decided. But even before that, Bridgewater College junior Amber Celen has personally racked up 23.0 points towards the Eagles' team ranking thanks to a trio of All-American performances that included two sprint victories. After placing sixth in the long jump (5.63m / 18' 5.75") on Friday, she won both the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes on Saturday, setting records along the way. She posted a time of 7.54 seconds in the 60m to reset her own ODAC record. In the 200m event, Celen torched the ODAC, facility, and NCAA Division III meet records with a time of 24.15 seconds.
Teammate Darin Council may have been the only men's competitor from the conference in Naperville, but he represented well. He had to wait until Saturday to compete in the triple jump, but that didn't deter him from picking up an All-American honor after placing seventh with a best jump of 14.29 meters (46' 10.75").
Virginia Wesleyan College's Marissa Coombs and Lynchburg College's Natalie Deacon both added to the All-America haul in the mile run. After finishing fifth and sixth, respectively, in the prelims, both finished apart of a seven-person group separated by 4.4 seconds. Coombs crossed the finish line second in an ODAC record time of 4:54.01, securing her second All-American award in as many seasons. Deacon, who won a national title with the Hornets' women's soccer team in 2014, again performed on the national stage by finishing seventh at 4:55.91.
Hannah Nichols would not be denied either as the Eastern Mennonite University first-year runner made it 5-for-5 for ODAC All-Americans. On Friday, Nichols stormed back late in the prelims of the 800-meter run to earn a place in the finals. She made the effort stand up as she finished sixth overall in 2:14.66.
If needed, this release will be updated as appropriate following the announcement of final awards.
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