FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Results
LA CROSSE, Wis. (May 24, 2013) - The second day of competition at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships very nearly yielded the second individual national championship of the weekend for the North Central College men's track and field team on Friday, as senior
Zach Heerspink took on the nation's best in the high jump and closed his collegiate career with a second-place finish.
"It's a great way to go out," said Heerspink, now a six-time national qualifier and a three-time All-American. "Coming in, I either wanted a personal record or to place in the top eight. Based on the practices this week, I felt like that was possible."
After passing the first height of the competition, Heerspink opened at 6 feet, 4 3/4 inches, clearing on his second attempt. He went on to clear each of the next four heights, on the second attempt each time, the last of which made him one of just three in the competition to clear 6'10 1/4". That clearance tied Heerspink's personal best in the event.
"My approach was flawless during the warmups," he said. "I was so ready for it, and then every first attempt wasn't good. I just had to clear that out of my head and keep going."
Heerspink remained in the running with Christian Patterson of Wilmington College (Ohio) and Nathan Davis of Heidelberg University (Ohio) as the bar was raised to 6'11 1/2". Heerspink narrowly missed on each of his three attempts, while Davis cleared on the second attempt to win the title.
"It's hard to know where to adjust for that, because I don't practice at that height very often," Heerspink noted. "I just made the adjustments I felt I needed to, and some of the attempts were good, so I was happy with it."
The lone North Central competitor on Saturday will be
John Crain, who will compete in the 5,000-meter run at 5:55 p.m. A full schedule and live event-by-event results are available at
http://www.uwlathletics.com/sports/2012/12/13/MTRACK_1213120030.aspx?id=122.
