NCAA Championship Meet Recap

Courtesy of GoCobbers.com, Release: March 11

FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2006 - FINALS

NORTHFIELD, Minn.-- Angie Pfeiffer came up with her best performance of her career as she ran a 56.63 in the finals of the 400 meters at the NCAA Division III National Indoor Track and Field Meet and finished second.

She was part of a quartet of runners that all bettered the Tostrud Track record and finished within .50 of one another.

Pfeiffer's time breaks the school record which she set last weekend at the MIAC Championship Meet. At the conference meet, she ran a 57.01 and won the event. That time broke a 16-year-old record by .22 seconds.

Her runner-up finish is the highest national finish in her career. She also earned All-American Indoor Track and Field honors for the second time in her career and her fifth overall All-American award.

She also tied for the top finish by any MIAC athlete. Augsburg's Tonnisha Bell took second in the 55 Meter Dash.

Race recap from men's track and field coach Garrick Larson:

In the finals of the 400, the field of 8 is divided in to 2 sections of 4 runners. The slowest qualifiers go first.

In the first heat was last year’s runner up Rachel Anderson, Illinois Wesleyan (the eventual winner) who ran unimpeded in lane one the entire way to a great time.

In the second and fastest heat, was last year’s indoor champion Bridget Burns from Wartburg and #1 seed Chizoba Ezeigwe of Wheaton (Mass.).

Angie got out hard in 26.5 in the first lap, but with the crowd of fast runners, was in 3rd place at the cut with one lap to go.

In the final straight Angie had Burns coming on her outside. Directly in front of her, Ezeigwe swung wide to attempt a pass of Boyd the leader. In response, Boyd moved out to the edge of lane 1 to force Ezeigwe wide. Angie saw the inside opening and, like a kitten turned sly cat, took the inside route out-leaning Boyd to win the fast section. With the crowd “oh”ing the photo finish and cheering wildly, it was only seconds before the time flashed on the board to find out that Pfeiffer’s valiant effort would only manage 2nd place.

400 Meter Finals Results

1 Rachel Anderson, So, Illinois Wesleyan 56.35
Tostrud Center record
2 Angie Pfeiffer, Sr, Concordia Moorhead 56.63
Betters old Tostrud Center record
3 Brittny Boyd, Sr, College of New Jersey 56.68
Betters old Tostrud Center record
4 Nadine Pieske, Jr, Wisconsin Oshkosh 56.85
Betters old Tostrud Center record
5 Chizoba Ezeigwe, Fr, Wheaton College (Ma) 57.05
Betters old Tostrud Center record
6 Bridget Burns, Jr, Wartburg College 57.93
7 Amanda Donath, Fr, Wisconsin Oshkosh 58.42
8 Sarah Miller, Jr, Keene State College 58.65

FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2006 - PRELIMS

NORTHFIELD, Minn.-- Concordia senior track sensation Angie Pfeiffer (Colman, S.D./Colman-Egan HS) ran a 57.30 in the third preliminary heat of the 400 meters and qualified for the finals at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championship Meet held at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. on Friday.

Pfeiffer won the heat with the time and qualified with the third fastest time heading into tomorrow's finals. Her time was .10 seconds behind the top qualifier, Brittny Boyd of the College of New Jersey.

Since she qualified for the finals, she will automatically earn All-American honors as the top eight finishers in each event earn the prestigious award. It will be the second straight indoor All-American award that she has won and fifth overall.

Pfeiffer's qualifying time of 57.30 was only .29 seconds off the mark she used to break the MIAC Conference Meet record and qualify for the national meet.

The 400-meter finals will take place on Saturday, Mar. 11 at 5:25pm. Pfeiffer will be hoping to earn her highest finish at a national meet. Her previous best is a sixth-place finish in the 400 meters at the 2004 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Meet.

400 Meter Preliminary Results

Round 1, Heat 1
1 Chizoba Ezeigwe, Fr, Wheaton College (Ma) 57.25q
Tostrud Center record - Was 57.28
2 Jessica Bonelli, So, College of New Jersey 58.47
3 Jordean Mathews, Fr, Lincoln University 58.47
Ashlee Robertson, Sr, Oneonta S U N Y DQ

Round 1, Heat 2
1 Brittny Boyd, Sr, College of New Jersey 57.20q
Tostrud Center record
2 Nadine Pieske, Jr, Wisconsin Oshkosh 57.55q
3 Rachel Anderson, So, Illinois Wesleyan 57.75q
4 Staci Jackson, So, McMurry University 58.75

Round 1, Heat 3
1 Angie Pfeiffer, Sr, Concordia Moorhead 57.30q
2 Sarah Miller, Jr, Keene State College 58.00q
3 Liz Kooistra, Fr, Wisconsin Eau Claire 58.13

Round 1, Heat 4
1 Bridget Burns, Jr, Wartburg College 57.37q
2 Amanda Donath, Fr, Wisconsin Oshkosh 57.78q
3 Carrie Plitt, So, Williams College 58.28