Ezeigwe's two All-America honors lead Wheaton on final day of NCAAs

May 26, 2007

OSHKOSH, WI- Sophomore Chizoba Ezeigwe (Brockton, MA/Thayer Academy) earned All-America honors in a pair of events to lead the Wheaton College women during the third and final day of the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championship in the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh's Titan Stadium on Saturday.

The Lyon women tied for 28th out of 74 scoring teams thanks to nine points, as the Blue and White's point total and placement were both its best since the 2004 championship. The University of Wisconsin at La Crosse's men won the championship with 99 points, while the women's team from Wisconsin-Oshkosh earned 57 points to claim the national title.

After running the sixth-fastest time during the 200-meter dash trials, Ezeigwe finished third in the finals thanks to a time of 25.02, coming within 0.08 seconds of the runner-up spot. As one of only two underclassmen in the final, Ezeigwe completed the competition first. The finish marked the highest in an individual event for Ezeigwe at an NCAA meet, as her best had previously been fifth during the 400-meter dash at the 2006 indoor championship.

Ezeigwe, sophomores Natana Jules (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) and Celeste Karpow (Wilton, CT/Wilton) and freshman Renee Thompson (Hartford, CT/Weaver) trimmed more than four seconds off their trials time during the 4x400-meter relay finals, finishing sixth in 3:48.11. The Wheaton quartet collectively ran 4.26 seconds faster on Saturday than in Thursday's preliminaries, when the Lyons recorded a time of 3:52.37.

Ezeigwe notched the first two outdoor championship All-America accolades of her career, adding to her three indoor honors. Jules and Thompson were first-time outdoor All-Americans after each earning national accolades this past indoor season, while Karpow qualified for her initial All-America honor, indoor or outdoor.

In his first NCAA Championship, freshman Howard Powell (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) placed ninth during the 110-meter hurdles as the lone freshman in the finals. He qualified by virtue of his 14.63 performance during Friday's trials before falling just 0.06 seconds shy of his first career All-America honor on Saturday.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 5/26/07.
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