WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Calvin women's indoor track and field team had a banner day at the NCAA III Indoor Track and Field Championships, posting one All-America performance and putting itself in position for at least one more All-America berth.
Calvin's distance medley relay team of sophomore Delaney Sall (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS), freshman Cora Moore (Phoenix, Az./North Phoenix Prep), sophomore Jenna Allman (Ann Arbor, Mich./Saline HS) and senior Sadie Heeringa (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) captured All-America honors with a fifth place and school-record time of 11:46.92. The time shatters the previous school record of 11:49.21 set by the same group earlier this winter.
The relay came into the day seeded 11th but moved up six places to claim a (top-eight) All-America finish in the relay.
Sall opened the relay with a 1,200 meter split of 3:39.76. Moore then clocked a time of 1:02.31 in the 400 meters. Allman came in with an 800 meter split of 2:17.44. Heeringa then stepped up and powered through the final mile with a sizzling split of 4:47.39 that moved Calvin up from eighth to fifth.
In addition, Sall qualified for the Saturday finals in the 800 meters, taking second in her heat with a time of 2:13.66. The top two in each of the three prelim heats qualified for Saturday's championship final which is slated for 3:50 p.m. with Sall set to run in a final field of eight runners.
Heeringa will also get a chance to run for individual honors as she will compete in the 3,000 meters where she is seeded seventh. The 3,000 meters are scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m.
COACHES COMMENT: "I'm really proud of our athletes today," said Calvin head track and field coach Bret Otte. "They worked together and believed that they could be an All-American relay. Sadie had an amazing final leg that was incredible to watch but all four of our runners did great. It was also great to see Delaney advance to Saturday's final. She emerged out of a group of very talented athletes and it will be exciting to watch her and also Sadie compete tomorrow. We are looking forward to the opportunity."
