Four ODAC Stars Earn All-American Honors at NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships

From left, Bridgewater's Emily Valle and Davonta Womack were joined by Roanoke's Quinn Harlan and Shenandoah's Shamyra Wilkerson in securing All-American honors at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships in Boston, Mass., on March 8-9, 2019.
From left, Bridgewater's Emily Valle and Davonta Womack were joined by Roanoke's Quinn Harlan and Shenandoah's Shamyra Wilkerson in securing All-American honors at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships in Boston, Mass., on March 8-9, 2019.

BOSTON, Mass. --- Four ODAC stars earned All-American status on Saturday during the final day of competition at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships hosted by the University of Boston-Massachusetts in the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center. A total of six athletes from conference schools saw action on Saturday.

Bridgewater's duo of Davonta Womack and Emily Valle earned top-eight finishes to rack up All-American awards. They were joined by Roanoke College sprinter Quinn Harlan and Shenandoah speedster Shamyra Wilkerson. BC's Calista Ariel and Eastern Mennonite's Grant Amoateng came up just shy of high honors in their respective events.

RELATED: Event Schedule and Results

Womack and Valle earned their first career indoor All-American awards. Womack, who won his heat and finished second overall in the prelims of the 60-meter dash, finished eighth in the finals with a time of 0:07.07. Kai Cole from Wesley College won the event in 0:06.80.

Valle, a day removed from crushing her own ODAC and school records in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 0:08.69, collected her piece of NCAA hardware by placing seventh overall in the finals at 0:08.92. Jayci Andrews from Bridgewater State (Mass.) won the event in 0:08.68.

RELATED: Men's 60-meter Dash Results | Women's 60-meter Hurdles Results

The awards kept coming for ODAC sprinters in the women's 60-meter dash and women's 200-meter dash. Harlan, the national runner-up in the 60-meter dash in 2018, was nearly as impressive this season in finishing fourth overall with a time of 0:07.72. This marks her second indoor All-America performance in two tries for the sophomore sprinter. Evelina Sloboh from Wesley College won the event with a time of 0:07.55.

Wilkerson tasted All-America success for the first time in her career. The Hornets junior finished eighth overall at 0:25.84 to complete what head coach Andy Marrocco described as a "historic day for our program and our university." Gabrielle Noland from Loras College won the event in 0:24.34.

RELATED: Women's 60-meter Dash Results | Women's 200-meter Dash Results

A pair of ODAC stars each competed in both the women's and men's 60-yard dashes. Roanoke's Quinn Harlan, the national runner-up in the event in 2018, and Shenandoah's Shamyra Wilkerson took to the women's race. Harlan will again compete for a national crown as she finished second in her heat and seventh overall with a time of 0:07.70. Wilkerson was fourth in the same heat and tied for 13th overall at 0:07.774 as officials had to go to the film to sort thru three athletes at 0:07.78. Gabrielle Noland from Loras College is the top seed with a time of 0:07.50.

While Wilkerson came up a bit short in the 60-meter dash, she made sure to include herself in Saturday's action with a strong showing in the 200-meter dash. Wilkerson finished second in her heat and seventh overall with a personal-best time of 0:25.18. Loras' Noland will be the #1 seed in a second event as she posted the top time at 0:24.38.

RELATED: Women's 60-meter Dash Results | Women's 200-meter Dash Results

Bridgewater's Calista Ariel came up just shy of securing All-American laurels. The Eagles' junior competed in the finals of the 3,000-meter run a day after setting a new school record in the event and coming up just 0.79-seconds shy of tying the ODAC mark. She finished her championship weekend with a time of 10:09.90 in the 3K, placing 11th overall. Emily Forner from Allegheny College won the event with a time of 9:39.56.

The remaining athlete to compete was EMU's Amoateng. He took his shot in the men's triple jump, earning three attempts on the national stage. He set a new personal-best despite falling outside the All-America qualifying line, placing 11th overall at 14.37 meters (47-1.75). That was the best mark in the ODAC by nearly a foot-and-a-half. Yorai Shaoul from MIT won the event at 15.22 meters (49-11.25).

RELATED: Women's 3,000-meter Run Results | Men's Triple Jump Results

This concludes the indoor season for all athletes. ODAC fans won't be without track action for any length of time as the outdoor season began with a few meets this weekend.