Dewart Claims National Pentathlon Crown on Day One of NCAA Championships
Columbus, Ohio – Junior Emma Dewart (Barker/Barker) ran a season-best 2:24.60 800-meter run to close out pentathlon competition and claim the national crown at the 2011 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships on Friday. Dewart, now a four-time All-American, scored 3,535 points in becoming Ithaca’s first athlete to win a national championship since Tommy Hall won the 133-pound wrestling title in 2002.
Dewart becomes the second women’s track & field athlete to win a national championship in program history. Ann Marie DelSignore claimed the indoor 5,000 run in 1992. Seventeen Ithaca athletes have combined to win 23 national championships since 1983.
In a 14-athlete field, Dewart won the 55 hurdles in 8.55 and the high jump by clearing 1.67 meters. She placed second in the long jump with a mark of 5.44 meters and finished with a distance of 8.06 meters in the shot put. Her 2:24.60 800, over a seven-second improvement on her season best, was enough to finish nine points ahead of the second-place finisher.
NCAA Video: Dewart's interview following awards ceremony
Dewart returns to the national indoor meet for the third straight year. As a freshman she tallied All-America honors in the pentathlon with a point total of 3,207 good for seventh place. During the 2010 indoor national meet, she claimed second place in the pentathlon and third in the high jump with finishes of 3,494 points and 1.66 meters, respectively.
Dewart also competed in the open 55 hurdles finishing 14th in the preliminaries with a time of 8.45.
Senior Kate Leugers (Rice Memorial/Richmond, Vt.) competed in the mile prelims finishing 11th with a time of 5:00.66, while senior Marcia McCord (Rancocas Valley/Mount Holly, N.J.) ran 12th in the 400 dash prelims clocking in at 57.98.
Dewart will again compete on Saturday at 10 a.m. in the high jump, while McCord will compete in the triple jump at 11:30 a.m.
Pentathlon Results | 55 Hurdles Results | Mile Run Results | 400 Dash Results