Track and Field News Releases
Hawkins, Craw qualify for NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships
MOUNT VERNON - Senior distance runner Rachelle Hawkins (Boise, Idaho/Bishop Kelly) and sophomore thrower Madison Craw (Mason City/Mason City) will represent Cornell at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships March 13-14, hosted by Rose-Hulman Institute in Terre Haute, Ind.
Hawkins will compete in the preliminaries of the mile run at 4 p.m. Friday. She is seeded ninth out of 15 competitors. The top 10 finishers in the prelims advance to the finals at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Craw qualified in the shot put, which begins with prelims at 1 p.m. Saturday and the finals immediately following. She is seeded 13th in the 15-woman field. The top nine finishers in the prelims advance to the finals.
Hawkins and Craw are both first-time national qualifiers in track and field. Cornell's last female indoor qualifier was in 2005, when Lynn Schneider earned All-America honors with a third-place finish in the shot put. Hawkins is the first Cornell female to qualify for indoor nationals in a running event since 2002, when Julie Carne placed seventh in the 400.
"I'm really excited to have Rachelle and Madison competing at the NCAA Championships," Cornell head coach Lonnie Speidel said. "Rachelle is having an outstanding senior season and I'm so happy to see all her hard work the last four years paying off. Madison is taking the next step in her progression as an athlete. She threw a provisional mark a year ago, but didn't get in. Her goal all along was to make it to nationals this year. She's young, but has the talent to mix it up with the best in the country."
Hawkins raced her way into the field with a record-breaking performance at the Iowa State Qualifier Saturday in Ames. She finished in a time of 4 minutes, 59.88 seconds, becoming the first Cornell female in school history to break five minutes in the mile. Hawkins shattered her own school mark by more than six seconds. She placed fifth in a competitive field and was the highest Division III finisher.
Wisconsin-Oshkosh's Ayla Mitchell, the 2008 national runner-up, owns the top qualifying mark (4:45.80) in this year's championship field in the mile. Defending champion Marie Borner of Bethel is ranked second (4:52.14). Hawkins will join two other Iowa Conference runners in the field, including Coe's Ashley Schnell (4:53.58) and Simpson's Catie Ellingson (5:00.35).
Craw punched her ticket to nationals with a provisional mark of 43 feet, 8.75 inches, set at the Cornell Invitational Jan. 24 in Mount Vernon. She competed in Last Chance meets over the weekend at UW-Whitewater and UW-Stevens Point. Craw took second at UW-Whitewater (42-00.75) and finished fifth at UW-Stevens Point (42-06).
St. Lawrence's Alyssa Pirinelli, a seventh-place finisher in 2008, holds this season's top mark (47-07.75). Defending champion Monique Riddick of Montclair State is seeded second (46-10.75).
The top eight finishers in each event this weekend earn All-America status.
