11 March 2002
CONTACT: Stew Salowitz, 309-556-3206
 
 

IWU's Rawlins Fifth in 400 at National Indoor Meet;
IWU Freshman, 1,600 Relay Team Earn All-America Status

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Illinois Wesleyan's Gena Rawlins grabbed a fifth-place finish and All-American status in the 400-meter run Saturday (March 9) at the NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships, held at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio.

Rawlins, a freshman from Atlanta (Stanford Olympia HS), was clocked in 57.7 seconds in the finals after turning in a 57.09 in Friday's preliminaries to earn the No. 4 seed.

Rawlins also anchored the Titans' 1,600 relay team, which finished seventh in 3:57.8.

Other team members were sophomore Gianina Taylor (Decatur, Eisenhower HS), junior Michelle Dionne (Pana HS), and freshman Katie O'Rourke (Bloomington, Central Catholic HS).

The top eight finishers in each event earned designation as All-Americans.

IWU coach Chris Schumacher said the Titans learned a lot. "It was their first national meet and to come home with four All-Americans is definitely exciting," he said. "Coming off (Friday) night's preliminary performances, the girls were disappointed with the way they competed Saturday, but it's a learning experience."

The Titan relay team was seeded second after being timed in 3:54.22 Friday.