Tuesday, June 16, 2009

NEW ORLEANS - Jacksonville's Natasha Harvey and ETSU's Heidi Dahl were named All-Americans by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Harvey earned a spot in the long jump while Dahl landed in the pool of 1500 runners.

Senior JU track & field athlete Natasha Harvey didn't get the ultimate result she wanted in her final meet as a Dolphin after placing 12th in the long jump at the NCAA Championship.

Harvey earned a place in her third consecutive finals after recording a leap of 20'1.5" (6.13m) to finish 11th in the preliminaries, but fouled on her first two jumps of the final competition. She recorded a leap of 19'5.5" (5.93m) on her final jump, which put her outside of the final nine to battle for the national title.

Senior Dahl (Orem, Utah) ended the drought for the Lady Bucs after her sixth-place finish in the finals of the 1500m propelled her way to All-American honors. The Orem, Utah native had her eyes set on a championship crown in the 1500m, but after running the fastest time in the prelims on Thursday night (4:14.91) the distance runner ran out of gas in the finals and finished in 4:15.03.

Florida State's Susan Kuijken stormed her way to a national championship title by winning the event in 4:13.05.

The Atlantic Sun Conference and Mideast Regional champion will now begin preparations for the 2009 USA National Championships. Dahl competes in the first round of the 1500m at the University of Oregon on Thursday, June 25.