Three Wittenberg Track Athletes Earn All-America Honors; Others Gain Regional Accolades

Skip Ivery

Tim Gaal

Geri Woessner

Kelly Zilli

Carmen Montgomery

Kari Thomas

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Four Wittenberg University track and field athletes traveled to Decatur, Ill. for the 2004 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Millikin University and three returned home with All-America honors.

Wittenberg finished in a tie for 44th place with seven points in the men's team competition as seniors Skip Ivery (Columbus, Ohio/Groveport-Madison) and Tim Gaal (Amanda, Ohio/Clearcreek) both earned All-America honors for a second straight year. Wittenberg finished in a tie for 54th place with three points in the women's team competition as senior Kelly Zilli (Dayton, Ohio/Kettering Alter) earned All-America honors in her first appearance in the national meet and senior Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) posted two top-20 finishes.

Gaal, the North Coast Athletic Conference Outdoor Field Events Athlete of the Year at the 2003 and 2004 meets, placed in the top-11 for the third straight year in the javelin. With a throw of 202-9 inches, less than four feet short of his Wittenberg and NCAC record, Gaal finished fourth in the 2004 event. At the 2003 NCAA Division III Championship meet, Gaal posted a throw of 197-1 in terrible weather conditions, good for a second-place finish. He won the javelin four straight years at the NCAC championships, in addition to capturing first place in the decathlon each of the last two years. He holds the Wittenberg and NCAC records in the event at 206-0.

Gaal, also a four-year letterwinner in football as a defensive back, had the 12th best throw in the nation this season coming into the meet. In 2002, Gaal placed 11th in the nation in the javelin.

Ivery, the defending NCAA Division III 110-meter hurdles champion, finished seventh in the event in 2004 with a finals time of 14.95. In the preliminary heat, Ivery posted a blistering school-record time of 14.36. Last year, despite persistent rain and chilly temperatures, Ivery set a track record at St. Lawrence University's Merrick-Pinkard track with a time of 14.63. It was just the third NCAA track and field title for a Wittenberg athlete, and the first since Sheila Simon won the high jump as a senior in 1983.

It was Ivery's fourth track and field All-America honor. He was also second in the 55-meter hurdles at the 2003 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships and fourth in the same event at the 2004 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships. He won four NCAC indoor hurdles titles and three NCAC outdoor hurdles titles in his career, and he was the Great Lakes Region Indoor Track Athlete of the Year in 2004. He was also the NCAC Sprinter/Hurdler of the Year at both the indoor and outdoor championship meets in 2004. Ivery ranked just 15th in the nation in the 110-meter hurdles coming into the national meet.

In her first opportunity in the national meet, Zilli made the most of it with her finest collegiate performance. In the preliminary heat of the 800 meters, Zilli recorded a school-record time of 2:13.44, and then in the finals she turned in a time of 2:15.46, good for sixth place and her first All-America honors. Zilli was the NCAC indoor and outdoor champion in the 800 meters in each of the last two years, and she also earned six All-NCAC awards as a relay runner in her career. Zilli holds school records in the 500 meters, 800 meters, indoor and outdoor pole vault and as a member of four indoor and outdoor relay events.

Zilli ranked 14th in the nation in the 800 meters prior to the national meet.

Rounding things out, Woessner finished 13th in the heptathlon and 18th in the javelin. The school and conference record-holder in the heptathlon, Woessner turned in a mark of 4,343 at the national meet and moved up five spots with strong performances in the javelin, long jump and 800 meters on Day 2 (Friday). She finished first in the heptathlon at the NCAC meet three times in four years, and she added her first career title in the javelin at the 2004 meet. Woessner also was all-conference with a third-place finish in the long jump with a mark of 16-6 1/2.

Woessner is one of the finest female athletes in school history with 12 varsity letters to her credit. She earned four letters in women's soccer as she scored the second-most goals in school history for a career and a season and was named to the All-NCAC honor roll all four years. She earned four letters in women's basketball as she scored more than 400 career points and grabbed more than 300 career rebounds for teams that won three NCAC regular season titles and two NCAC tournament crowns in her four years.

Woessner's mark in the heptathlon placed her ninth going into the national meet, and her mark in the javelin placed her 18th prior to the weekend's festivities.

In other news, the Tiger softball team placed four players on the All-Great Lakes Region rolls. NCAC Player of the Year, senior Carmen Montgomery (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern), claimed first-team honors for a second straight year after hitting .405 from the leadoff spot in the batting order and playing every position on the diamond during the season. Junior designated player Katie Carver (Enon, Ohio/Greenon), sophomore third baseman Katelyn Beddow (Lexington, Ohio/Ashland) and junior pitcher Norah Gillam (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) all made third-team all-region. It was the first regional award for Beddow, the second for Carver and the third for Gillam. All three made first-team All-NCAC previously.

Finally, the Tiger women's lacrosse team placed freshman midfielder Kari Thomas (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) on the All-West Region honor roll. The team's leading scorer in 2004 with 15 goals, Thomas earned second-team honors after previously earning honorable mention All-NCAC.

027-04