Storm boast four All-Americans, finish 15th at NCAAs

BEREA, Ohio - Catie Ellingson (Indianola, Iowa/Indianola) led four Simpson All-American performances with a second-place finish in the 1500-meter run as the Storm women's track and field team placed 15th at the 2010 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which concluded Saturday.

The Storm scored 16.5 points in the meet, a half point in front of Carleton. Illinois Wesleyan won the championship with 54 points, followed by Wisconsin-Oshkosh (53), MIT (37) and 2009 champion, Wartburg (36).

"It's always gratifying to see your athletes compete at their very best," head coach Dave Cleveland said. "We didn't have a perfect weekend, but a lot of people would taken the meet we had."

A junior, Ellingson put forth the best effort of her career, re-setting her own school record in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:27.23. Ellingson's performance is the best by a Simpson athlete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships since Kelly Sheda won the 400-meter run in 1993. She earned All-American honors for the second time in her career, improving three spots from a fifth-place finish in the 1500 a year ago.

Bethel senior Marie Borner won the event in a stadium record time of 4:23.85.

"We perofrmed really well and i'm proud of our girls," Cleveland said. "The bottom line is that we finished 15th in the country and that's something to be proud of."

Senior Lauren Bucklin (Bondurant, Iowa/Bondurant-Farrar) closed the book on her illustrious career as an eight-time All-American, placing fourth in the 100-meter hurdles and eighth in the 400-meter hurdles Saturday. Bucklin ran a season-best time of 14.12 in the 100 hurdles, finishing only 0.02 seconds behind third-place runner Amanda LaRocca of Illinois Wesleyan.

Bucklin held second place in the 400 hurdles, but her ankle gave out before the final hurdle. She finished with a 69.76.

"She was in the midst of the best race of her life," Cleveland said of Bucklin in the 400 hurdles. "She said she felt great, but it just didn't work out today. To end on her career on that race was a little disheartening, but you have to put things in perspective - she's still an eight time All-American."

Sophomore Kinsey Bak (Hinton, Iowa/Hinton) earned All-American honors in the high jump for the second time this season, taking fifth after placing third at the NCAA Indoor Championships. After setting a school record and automatically qualifying for the championships earlier this season, Bak cleared 5-5 3/4 on her final jump, tying three other competitors for fifth.

"Kinsey made all of her jumps after she just brushed 5-7 on her first attempt," Cleveland said. "I was pleased with the way she competed and performed."

Junior Chelsey Degen (Algona, Iowa/Algona) just missed the cutoff for finals in the discus throw, coming in fifth in her heat after a toss of 135-9. The final distance taken in the finals was 136-10.

"One of her preliminary throws was inches outside of the sector, which would have moved her up," Cleveland said. "It was a day of inches for us."