Lee and Tallman Take Home Season-Ending Honors
FOREST, Va. --- Washington and Lee
University track & field standouts Dana Lee and Zander Tallman
earned the conference's top track awards on Tuesday as the duo were
tabbed the ODAC Track & Field Athletes of the Year. The
Generals' stars are on opposite ends of their collegiate careers
with Tallman recently graduating and Lee completing her first
campaign in Lexington.
ODAC Indoor Championship Results / ODAC
Outdoor Championship Results
NCAA Indoor Championship Results / NCAA
Outdoor Championship Results
The pair combined for three All-American awards and just as many
major honors from the conference. Their performances also
included several ODAC and school record-setting performances.
Lee jumpstarted her time in W&L blue and white by earning both
the ODAC indoor and outdoor Rookie of the Year awards, sharing the
latter honor with Roanoke College's Caitlin Ashley. Indoors,
the Nashville, Tenn.-native narrowly missed her first All-American
honor by placing ninth in the long jump (5.41 meters; 17' 9.0") at
the NCAA Division III Naitonal Championships at Nebraska Wesleyan
University. That came after she set the ODAC overall record
in the event with a leap of 5.63 meters (18' 5.75") during the
regular season. At the ODAC Championships, Lee finished
second in both the long jump (5.35m; 17' 6.75") and 200-meter dash
(26.51 seconds), in addition to placing fourth in the 60-meter dash
(8.09s) and fifth in the triple jump (10.36m; 34' 0.0").
Outdoors, Lee corralled that elusive first All-American award with
a seventh place showing in the long jump via a leap of 5.59 meters
(18' 4.25") at the NCAA Division III Championships hosted by Ohio
Wesleyan University. She previously won the long jump
competition (5.45m; 17' 10.75") at the ODAC Championships
hosted by Roanoke. She added a second place effort in the
4x400-meter relay (4:01.31), third-place performances in the
200-meter dash (26.05s) and triple jump (10.98m; 36' 0.25"), and
fourth-place points in the 100-meter dash (12.79s). Prior to
the NCAA Championships, Lee took over the top spot on the ODAC
seasonal long jump charts with a mark of 5.73 meters (18'
9.75").
Hailing from Grand Blanc, Mich., Tallman earned All-America status
twice in 2013-14, beginning with a third place finish in the indoor
400-meter dash (48.09s) at the NCAA Championships. He
finished second in the event (49.48s) at the ODAC Championships.
He also joined his teammates as runners-up in the 4x400-meter
relay (3:23.98) and placed third individually in the 200-meter dash
(22.38s) at the league's annual event, which was hosted for the
first time by Virginia Wesleyan College at the Boo Williams
Sportsplex.
Tallman's outdoor season was filled with highlights with none more
impressive than his second All-American performance of the year
after claiming the national championship in the 400-meter dash.
His time of 47.19 seconds topped the conference's seasonal
charts and supplied the second D-III triumph in the 400-meter dash
by ODAC athletes in the 2013-14 season when combined with the
indoor crown earned by Lynchburg College speedster Tom Sippie.
At the ODAC Championships, Tallman earned Athlete of the Meet
accolades --- and subsequently South/Southeast Region Track Athlete
of the Year recognition by the USTFCCCA --- by winning a pair of individual
events and helping W&L relays to two victories. He won
the 400-meter dash with an ODAC championship record-time of 47.66
seconds. He went on to win the 800-meter race (1:55.84) and
place fourth in the 200-meter dash (22.22s). Tallman and his
teammates won both the 4x400-meter (3:20.66) and 4x100-meter
(42.13) relays. The Generals' 4x100 relay team went on to
compete at the NCAA Championships, placing ninth (41.24s) and
missing finals qualification (in addition to All-American status)
by 0.12-seconds.
For more information on ODAC track & field, visit the websites
of any of the participating schools, or go to the ODAC's home on
the Internet at www.odaconline.com. Don't forget to become a fan
of the ODAC on Facebook and follow @odacathletics on Twitter.