Index of Sports Press Releases

March 3, 2010

DWU’s athletes ready for NAIA National Indoor Meet

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Despite not having an indoor track facility of its own, Dakota Wesleyan University is sending seven individuals to this weekend’s NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships with high hopes for some outstanding performances.

The Tigers will have five individuals competing in four events one relay team also in action at the national meet, which begins Thursday at the ETSU Memorial Center “Mini-Dome” in Johnson City, Tenn. This is the 10th-straight year Johnson City has hosted the NAIA Indoor Championships.

All six of DWU’s entries earned All-Conference honors at the Great Plains Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships Feb. 20 in Lincoln, Neb., and all six have either set new school records this season, or are the second-best time/distance in Dakota Wesleyan history.

Derik Fossum

Frank Thompson

Issac Van Dyke

On the men’s side, a pair of jumpers and a distance runner will represent the Tigers at nationals. Derik Fossum won the triple jump at the GPAC Championships with a distance of 46-08.75, which set a new school record. He’ll try to repeat that success at nationals Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

Frank Thompson returns to the NAIA Championships for the second time in his career after equaling his own school record in the high jump. Thompson cleared 6-08.00 this season to match his personal and school record, and his jump of 6-04.00 earned him All-Conference honors at the GPAC meet. He’ll complete Friday at 3 p.m. at nationals.

Isaac Van Dyke will round out the DWU men’s entries when he competes in the 5,000-meter run Saturday at 3:10 p.m. At the GPAC Meet, Van Dyke earned All-Conference honors with a time of 5:15.85. That time is a personal best for Van Dyke, and the second-fastest time recorded in school history.

Natalie Wipf

Alyssa Christianson

Gail McIntyre

Tamika Irvin

Headlining the Tiger women’s national entries is the 4x400-meter relay team, made up of Natalie Wipf, Alyssa Christianson, Gail McIntyre and Tamika Irvin. The relay team earned All-GPAC honors at the conference meet by finishing with a new school-record time of 3:59.80. The women will run in the preliminary round Thursday at 6:30 p.m. If they advance, the finals will be the second-to-last event of the National Meet at 4:05 p.m. Saturday.

Two of the relay team members will also represent Dakota Wesleyan in the women’s 200-meter dash. Christianson and Wipf both earned All-GPAC honors in the event, and their times are the top two in school history. Christianson set a new school record with a time of 25.82 and Wipf is right behind with a time of 26.07. The duo will run in the semifinal round Friday at 6:05 p.m., and if they advance, the finals are scheduled for Saturday at 2:35 p.m.

Saturday’s final races begin with a Championship Ceremony at noon, and an Awards Ceremony will conclude the National Meet at 4:30 p.m. For results and other information on the National Championships, visit the NAIA’s Indoor Track and Field National Championships Web page at: http://naia.cstv.com/genrel/2010IndoorTFChampionships.html.