NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!

Falcon Women Win NCAA National Championship; Jordahl Wins 5,000; Four Earn All-American Honors

May 24, 2008

The Falcon women's track & field team won the NCAA National Outdoor Championship on Saturday!

Technically the Falcons tied with Illinois Wesleyan for the national title with each team scoring 35 team points. The meet was held at UW-Oshkosh.

The Falcons put together several strong performances on Saturday. That, and some excellent results from Thursday, helped UWRF to the team's first outdoor track & field National Championship. The National Championship is the fourth at UWRF. The 1983 men's hockey team won the NAIA National title while the 1988 and 1994 men's hockey teams won the NCAA National Championships.

On Saturday the Falcons had four outstanding performances that helped UWRF to the National title.

One came from Becca Jordahl who won the 5,000-meter run and became the third Falcon to become a NCAA individual champion. She finished the race in 16:52.49 to break the school record which she held (17:01.58). Her performance earned her NCAA All-American honors. On Thursday Jordahl, a junior, placed third in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 35:48.01. She also earned All-American honors in the 5,000-meter run at the 2008 NCAA indoor championships. Jill Crandall won the high jump national title last year and in 1996 Jen Pontius won the discus national championship.

Vicki Cooper and Krista Hasselquist both garnered some key points for the Falcons in the shot put. They both earned All-America honors. Cooper finished third and Hasselquist fifth to earn the Falcons 10 important team points.

Cooper, a senior, had a best throw of 46-3 ¼ which established a school record. Cooper has earned All-America status four times now, including the honor in the discus on Thursday. She also was an All-American in the shot in the indoor season in 2008 and the 2007 outdoor season in the shot. Hasselquist had the school record set in 2007 of 46-1 ¼.

Hasselquist, a senior, had a season-best throw of 45-7 ¼ to earn All-American honors. For Hasselquist it was the fourth time she earned All-American honors. She was an All-American in the shot at the 2007 outdoor meet and at the 2006 and 2008 indoor meets.

Kim Altenhofen also competed in the shot and had a best throw of 41-10 ¾. Despite her outstanding effort, Altenhofen, a junior, did not place.

UWRF got another important four team points from Shannon Zweifel who placed fifth in the 400-meter hurdles. She also earned All-American recognition for her finish. She ran the race in 1:01.85 and just missed breaking her school record in the event (1:01.6). This is the third time that the senior has earned All-American recognition. She earned the honors at the 2006 and 2007 outdoor meets in the 400 hurdles.

Cooper and Becky Ponick competed in the javelin. Ponick, a freshman, had a throw of 125-8 and Copper had a 123-9 effort. Despite the solid efforts, neither were able to place.

The Falcon men's and women's teams garnered seven All-American honors in the three day event. Cooper (discus) and Jordahl (10,000) earned the honors on Thursday; Jason Phillippi (steeplechase) won the award on Friday and then the four Falcons picked up the honors on Saturday.

The Falcon women picked up their 35 points in five events; discus (five points); 10,000-meters (six); shot put (10), 400 hurdles (four) and 5,000 (10).

Martha Brennan is the team's head coach and she is assisted by Brenda Thiel (throws), Steve Stocker (sprints), Keven Syverson (middle and long distance), Scott Sekelsky (long distance) and Torrion Amie (jumps). Thiel was named the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year on Wednesday.

Falcon Schedule