Published: March 10, 2007 01:00 am         

Records fall in first day of indoor track championships

Three marks bettered in women’s competition

TERRE HAUTE — For Megan Rossi, setting an NCAA Division III record in women’s pole vault Friday was simply a matter of sticking to the basics of her event.

For Marcia Taddy, helping her relay team shatter a national mark boiled down to finding the energy.

For Amanda Donath, a record-breaking time means nothing unless she can repeat the feat today.

Those women highlighted a sometimes-spectacular first day of track and field competition in Rose-Hulman’s Sports and Recreation Center, where action resumes at 11:30 a.m. today.

No records fell in the first day of men’s competition, although Greg Tyson Jr. was able to repeat as long jump champion — not without a heart-stopping final jump by an opponent, however — and Willy Kaul of Wisconsin-Oshkosh came out of nowhere on the anchor leg to give his team a surprising victory in the distance medley relay.

It was the distance medley relay where Taddy and her Wisconsin-Platteville teammates set their record, shattering Wartburg’s 2005 record by more than 7 seconds. And there was a pretty exciting anchor leg involved in that race, too.

Taddy, who had already qualified for two finals for her team, took the baton for the 1,600-meter anchor leg with a slight lead over Catherine Beck of Tufts, but Beck stalked Taddy for the first six of their eight laps.

“I could feel it,” Taddy admitted after the race, and Beck made her move with a little less than two laps to go.

Beck led for a lap, but then Taddy summoned her own reserve and made a final pass with a half lap remaining. Beck surged briefly, then yielded and finished a little more than a second behind — also more than 6 seconds better than the previous meet record.

“We ran by ourselves to get our qualifying time, so we were really confident [of a meet record] coming in,” Taddy said after the race. “But we saw Tufts had an awesome qualifying time as well, so we knew it would be a great race.”

Competing today in the mile and the 800, where she has the best qualifying time in each event, should be a little more relaxing for Taddy.

“I had the mile and the 800 before this [relay race],” she noted. “[Distance coach Tom Antczak] and I weren’t sure I should do the triple. It’s tough, but it’s my senior year, the last chance to run indoors, so I said we’d see what happens … I’m really happy with how it’s going.”

Today should be quite relaxing for North Central’s Rossi, who had to compete in what boiled down to several pole vault competitions after tying longtime rival Meghan Voiland of Augustana for first place.

Rossi and Voiland, who competed against each other when Rossi was at Downers Grove South and Voiland at Yorkville (Ill.) before the two went to neighboring Division III college rivals, both established meet records of 11-feet-113/4 with their initial jumps, and when their first-place battle began neither could shake the other.

“I was very tired,” Rossi said, after 20 additional vaults for both competitors were necessary to determine a national champion. “I just tried to stay positive and focus on the process.”

The record-setting height was a personal best indoors and enabled Rossi to remain undefeated against Division III competition as a senior, and she said afterward her strategy for the day was simple.

“I just wanted to jump up, see my feet and finish my jumps,” she explained. “A lot of hard work and dedication paid off.”

Donath’s 400-meter time of 55.27 seconds was better than the meet record time of 55:46 set in 2002 by Amber James of Wheaton, but she achieved it in a heat. She’ll have to win today’s race to get credit for a national record, and she’s competing against the last two national champions in the event — Rachel Anderson of Illinois Wesleyan and Bridget Burns of Wartburg.

Tyson’s best long jump of the day, 24-3, was a Division III season best but not a national record, or even as long as his winning jump as a sophomore in 2006. And he breathed easier at the end after sharing a hug with runner-up Fred Jones of Tufts, who fouled on a final jump that caused a loud reaction in the tightly packed crowd.

“It was a huge jump,” Tyson said of Jones’ last effort. “Had he changed his mark a little bit, maybe he’d be talking to you about winning.”

As it was, Tyson said repeating as winner was “a great feeling. That was our goal for the year, to get in position to be able to repeat, and it seems a great justice to be able to do that for everybody that helps me.”

Tyson will also compete in triple jump today, although he joked, “For me it’s double jump; I lack the middle element.”