ALL-AMERICA EFFORTS!...Gill, DeIngenis Become First Track All-America Performers In Stonehill History With Top Eight Finishes In Respective 1,500 Meter NCAA Outdoor Championships
May 27, 2006
STONEHILL OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD
2006 NCAA Division II Championships
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Hosted By Emporia State University
Zola Witten Track, Emporia, Kan.
Gill, DeIngenis Become First Track All-America Performers In Stonehill History With Top Eight Finishes In Respective 1,500 Meter NCAA Championships
EMPORIA, Kan.-- Stonehill College sophomore Keith Gill (Brockton, Mass.) and junior Dana DeIngenis (Cranston, R.I.) became the first track and field All-America performers in school history on Saturday evening by recording top eight finishes in their respective 1,500 meter national championship races at the 2006 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track Championships hosted by Emporia State.
Gill placed seventh in the men's 1,500 meter championships with a time of 4:04.25 on the Zola Witten Track, as he bested Minnesota State-Mankato's Scott Fiksdal by .09 for the seventh spot. Gill, who entered the NCAA championships seeded 10th nationally in the event, was just under three seconds off the winning pace set by Harding's Przemek Bobrowski, who ran a time of 4:01.27, and he was one of two Northeast-10 Conference individuals to earn All-America accolades, as UMass Lowell senior Patrick Morasse placed third in the event.
DeIngenis grabbed the eighth and final All-America spot on the women's side for the Skyhawks, as she posted a time of 4:47.15 in the event to best Colorado School of Mines sophomore Melanie Peddle by a full second to finish eighth. DeIngenis, who entered the NCAA championships seeded 14th nationally in the event, jumped six full spots with her historic effort to complete Stonehill's All-America sweep. Adams State senior Victoria Martinez set a blistering pace in winning the event with a time of 4:35.17.
"Words can't describe how happy I am for Keith and Dana," Stonehill Head Coach Karen Boen said of Gill's and DeIngenis's efforts following the national championship races. "Keith has overcome so much physically just to be here, and Dana has been such a consistent performer all year long. To be the first All-Americas we've ever had is a testament to their consistency and drive-they have taken both of our programs to new levels."
Stonehill, which has had eight individuals qualify for the NCAA championships in both the indoor and outdoor seasons in each of the last four years, has come close in the past two seasons to claiming its first All-America performers, but Gill and DeIngenis earned that distinction and also became the first Skyhawk individuals to score in the national championships.
DeIngenis capped a memorable year all-around with her effort in the women's 1,500 meter race, as she earned all-conference and all-regional accolades in cross country as well last fall and also earned all-league recognition during the outdoor season. Gill, last year's Northeast-10 Indoor Track Freshman of the Year, missed both the cross country and indoor track campaigns due to both illness and injury during this academic year, returning for the outdoor season in late March.