ESU Track and Field/NCAA Championships

BOSTON – East Stroudsburg University's Shavanna Ross leaped her way to All-America honors in the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships Saturday at the Reggie Lewis Center.

Ross cleared 5-5 ¾ in the high jump to finish sixth in the 14-woman field. The top six finishers received certificates as All-Americas.

Favored Maresa Cadienhead of Abilene Christian, last year's runner-up, won the event with a leap of 5-11 ¾. Tonya Kneifl of South Dakota also moved up a place to finish second at 5-7 ¾ after being third in the 2000 indoor national meet. Third was Beth Baldridge of Findlay, also at 5-7 ¾.

Five jumpers cleared 5-5 ¾ with Jill Croft of UMass-Lowell and Julie Johnson of North Dakota tied for fourth after making it on their second attempt. Both had been clean up to that point, going over 5-3 ¾ on their first try.

Ross also made 5-5 ¾ on her second try, but she had missed once at 5-3 ¾. Reidun Daily of Western, Co. and Becky Nyberg of North Dakota State tied for seventh, missing two jumps before clearing 5-5 ¾ on their final attempt.

The ESU senior from William Allen High School had qualified for the meet with a career-best 5-7 ¼ in winning the high jump at the ECAC Indoor Track and Field Championships in late February in the Koehler Fieldhouse.

This was her second appearance in an NCAA national meet. She competed in the 400-meter hurdles at the outdoor championships last spring, but did not place.

Ross became the school's second All-America in the high jump. The other was her current coach, Karen Way Gaita, who was a five-time All-America in the event and won the outdoor national title in 1991.

"The All-America finish is a great tribute to Shavanna's hard work all season," said Gaita, an ESU assistant coach for the last five years. "She has improved on her takeoff and she is a lot more consistent than last year."

Head Coach Joe Koch echoed Gaita's statement: "Shavanna keeps getting better and better in all events and is enjoying a great senior season. She perhaps one of the best all-around track and field performers in the school's history."

In addition to the high jump, Ross won the 500-meter dash at the ECAC meet and also anchored the winning 4 x 400-meter relay team. She was named the meet's outstanding field performer.

It marked the seventh straight year that Koch has produced an All-America. Last year, javelin thrower Jenn Grube gained All-America honors with a fifth-place finish in the javelin at the NCAA outdoor meet.

This spring, Ross will be attempting to become only the third Warrior to finish as an All-America both indoors and outdoors. The only previous doubles were achieved by Way and by distance runner Tina Vosper in the 5,000-meter run indoors and the 10,000 outdoors in 1999.

The Warriors will begin their outdoor season in three weeks, competing in the Virginia Commonwealth Games at the University of Richmond March 23-24.

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