Track and Field: Graf makes B-cut, leads Belles in final meet
By KATIE McVOY
Associate Sports Editor
Junior transfer student Laura Graf made history for Saint Mary's College at the MIAA track championships last weekend as her 800-meter time was good enough for a provisional qualification for nationals.
Despite the fact that Graf's 2:15.28 time was good enough to break the previous MIAA record and set a new Saint Mary's outdoor record, it was only good enough to give her a third place finish in the race. Hope's Jennifer Price and Calvin's Sara Veltkamp finished ahead of Graf; Price won by nearly two seconds.
A provisional qualification gives Graf a chance to compete in the NCAA national meet if too few runners qualify automatically. However, it is unlikely that her time will be good enough to take her to the meet.
"We wanted to prove we have the girls who want to compete," Graf said. "We don't care what happened in the past. We are stronger this year."
The recently disbanded Saint Mary's track team finished in seventh place in the last meet of their current existence, defeating the Comets of Olivet.
Four women scored points for the Belles, including Graf.
Junior Erica Burket led the Belles in scoring with three top eight finishes. A second place finish in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.50 seconds brought in seven points for the Belles, the most any runner socred. Her 4 foot, 10 inch high jump was enough to land her a fifth place finish, behind a 5-2 winning jump by Alma's Kristi Pykosz. She added an eight place finish in the 400-meter hurdles, an event which she has run only twice, with a time of 1:13.61.
Joing Graf and Burket in scoring were freshmen Becky Shepkowski and Jaclyn Thompson.
Shepkowksi's sixth place finish in the triple jump was a surprise following a season where she generally took second place to Burket who holds the school record in the event. However, a 31-10 jump, which still fell short of her personal best 32-7, was enough to earn Shepkowski points for the team.
Thompson tied her personal best pole vault and tied the school record, which she holds. Her 8-6 jump landed her in fourth place in the MIAA, falling three feet short of the winning 11-6 jump.
The Saint Mary's 400-meter relay team took home a fifth place finish with a time of 54.14, wrapping up the scoring for the day.
Calvin took home an unquestioned MIAA title. The Knights claimed first place in 17 of the 20 events, including five new MIAA records. Only three runner were able to quench the fire Calvin began at the Hope field.
All Sports Stories for Friday, May 18, 2001
