Bridgewater Athlete Becomes First ODAC Champion in Seven Event Discipline
BEREA, Ohio --- Bridgewater College senior
Courtney Hartman put the cap on a stellar season as she won the
heptathlon at the 2010 NCAA Division III Track & Field
Championships on Friday afternoon on the campus of Baldwin-Wallace
College. Hartman racked up 4,904 points to win by 92 points
over the next closest competitor. Her point total also fell
47 points shy of tying the ODAC record.
Click HERE to view live results of all the events,
including the heptathlon.
Hartman, who earlier was named the South/Southeast Region Field
Athlete of the Year by the United States Track & Field and
Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), came into the event
slotted third. She improved upon her seeding through four
events on Thursday, sitting second by the day’s end just 70
points off the lead.
Friday started with the long jump competition and Hartman remained
in second, but her margin in back of first place increased to 92
points. The sixth event of the heptathlon is where Hartman
moved into the top spot. Ithaca College’s Emma Dewart,
the leader through five events, did not record a distance in the
javelin and slipped all the way to 15th. It opened
the door for Hartman, who placed sixth in the javelin and moved out
to an 83-point lead over Kara Vande Guchte from Hope College.
Only the 800-meter run remained. Hartman finished seventh in
the two-lap trip around the track, eclipsing her previous seasonal
top-time by nearly two seconds. Vande Guchte finished
11th and fell into third place with Leah Kay from
Concordia-Moorehead moving into second with 4,812 total
points. A total of 18 athletes competed in the
heptathlon.
Hartman’s victory marks the first heptathlon championship
for any student-athlete in ODAC history. She is also only the
second Bridgewater athlete to win a national track event (Isaac
Rodgers, indoor triple jump in 1985). Hartman earned
All-America honors in the event for the second straight
season. Her final total of 4,904 points shattered her
previous Bridgewater record of 4,618 points.
Click play below or click HERE to watch the post event interview with
Courtney Hartman.
On Thursday, Hartman started the competition with a fifth place showing in the 100-meter hurdles (15.24; 810 pts.). She went on to place 12th in the high jump (1.55 meters; 678 pts.) before rebounding with a third place finish in the shot put (10.95 meters; 592 pts.). She capped her day by winning the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.08 seconds for 879 points. She continued her efforts toward the national title on Friday afternoon with a sixth place finish in the long jump (5.08 meters; 581 pts.). Hartman again placed sixth in the javelin (36.59 meters; 602 pts.) before ending the affair with a seventh place showing and personal-best time in the 800-meter run (2:24.60; 762 pts.).
Several other ODAC athletes are still slated to compete on Friday and into Saturday. For more information, including live results from all the events, visit the championship website at www.bw.edu/athletics/10tracknationals. For more information on ODAC track & field, visit any of the participating schools’ websites, or go to the ODAC’s home on the Internet at www.odaconline.com.