Double All-American Dello Russo Takes Second in 400; 7th in 200
Jonathan McCue
LA CROSSE, Wis. (May 26, 2018) – Sophomore
Gina Dello Russo of the Stevens Institute of Technology track & field team was second in the 400-meter finals and seventh in the 200-meter finals as she earned All-America status in both events at the 2018 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championship on Saturday.
Click here to see full results from the weekend
In the 400, Dello Russo was neck-and-neck with defending national champion Wadeline Jonathas of UMass-Boston, who owned a total of seven national titles coming into the race. Dello Russo was step-for-step with Jonathas until the Bostonian pulled away in the final 80 meters.
Still, Dello Russo set a new personal best and lowered her own school-record in the process with a time of 54:56, taking second in the nation by two tenths of a second.
Just over an hour later, in the 200, Dello Russo had enough to earn her second All-American designation of the 93-degree day with a time of 25.29 seconds. Jonathas won the title in that event as well.
"Gina had an incredible day," said head coach
Justin Wood. "To be right there with a multiple-time National Champion in the 400 was a great achievenet. In the 200, she really emptied the tank and was able to pull though another All-American performance in very challenging and hot conditions."
Dello Russo personally earned 10 team points at the national meet, allowing the Ducks to finish 24th out of the 152 schools competing at the NCAA Championships.
Dello Russo now has earned four All-American honors this season; she was also an All-American in the 400 and 200.