13 March 2000
CONTACT: Stew Salowitz, 309-556-3206 and/or head coach Chris Schumacher, (309) 556-3624
 
 

Six IWU Seniors Place in National Track Meet

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — All six Illinois Wesleyan University seniors who qualified for the NCAA Division III indoor track and field championships earned All-America honors, including two national first place finishes.

Muneerah Maalik (Chicago, Hyde Park Academy) won the women's long jump and Jason Dennis (Prophetstown HS) won the men's shot put at the national meet, which was held at the Shirk Center on the Illinois Wesleyan campus.

Maalik, a second-year track athlete who finished fifth in last year's indoor 55-meter dash, managed to overcome shin splints that slowed her in the preliminary round. On her final jump, she leaped a personal-best 19 feet, 3/4 inches, to better Christopher Newport's Casey Taylor's 19-foot effort and become IWU's second female track and field national champion. ( Nikki Frank earned IWU's first national title, winning the outdoor high jump in 1996.)

"My legs were bothering me after my second jump," Maalik said. "I just went into the gym and stretched and got my mind into the competition. I focused and blocked everything out, and said to myself, 'This is the only event you're doing, just suck it up.' I was really pumped for my last jump because this is the last time I'll probably get to jump competitively inside the Shirk Center."

Dennis, who placed second at last year's national indoor meet, had a school record mark of 56 feet, 9 1/2 inches to win the shot.

"I have to be thankful it was my day because we all have good days and bad days. (Saturday) was my good day," said Dennis, who opened the shot put competition with two career bests, the second of which was a school record.

Dennis had a long list of backers to thank including his event coach, Jason Williams. "I've had great teammates to push me the last couple years," added Dennis, 6-foot-4, 250-pound team captain. "I wouldn't be here without them. My parents and friends are super supportive. This is a huge time commitment, and they've understood."

Martez Clark (Frankfort, Lincoln-Way HS), the top seed in the long jump, placed sixth with a jump of 23 feet, 3 1/4 inches, well off his school record of 24 feet, 2 inches.

" I couldn't get on the board. I just didn't have any explosion, " said Clark, who felt his legs were cramping. Clark, who still earned All-American honors for the second time in his career, jumped as far as fifth-placer Andy Basler of Wisconsin-La Crosse, but Basler had a better secondary mark.

"I know he's disappointed and that will only fuel him for the outdoor season," said IWU coach Chris Schumacher. "He is a good enough jumper he can have a bad day and still be among the best in the nation."

Denise Short (Clinton HS) finished fourth in the women's long jump with a personal-best 18 feet-3 inches, which came on her last jump, much to the delight of a large contingent of IWU athletes and fans.

"You can't beat the home turf," Short told Doug Hamm of The Pantagraph. "We knew we would have a lot of people supporting us, and there were a lot of people from home who were here that wouldn't normally get to watch me. It was unbelievable. I didn't think my last jump was that great, but it was what I needed. I came in ranked 11th and finished fourth, so I can't have any complaints about that."

Harold Gauthier (Lynwood, Thornton Fractional South HS), in only his second indoor meet of the season, bounded 47 feet-8 inches for sixth in the triple jump. A hamstring injury had him contemplating red-shirting as recently as a few weeks ago.

Now a four-time All-American, Gauthier said, "I hope I get the time in now before the outdoor season to get back to my original form."

Steve Zimmerman (Naperville, North HS) placed fourth in the pole vault at a height of 15 feet, 11 inches.

"It was the best he's ever vaulted in a meet," said IWU's Schumacher, noting Zimmerman barely made it into the meet as the 13th seed at 15 feet, 5 inches.

"Today I didn't feel a whole lot of pressure," Zimmerman told Randy Sharer of The Pantagraph. "I was just having fun. The atmosphere was awesome. I've been having a real consistent last half of the season so I was ready to pop off a big jump. I thought all of my jumps (at 16-4) had a chance. That gives me good motivation going into outdoors."

Brad Parris of McMurry (Texas) defended his pole vault title with a clearance of 16-10.

IWU's four-man national meet squad scored 16 points to finish a school record eighth as a team. Lincoln (Pa.) won its third straight crown and sixth since 1990, scoring 59 points to outdistance runner-up North Central, which tallied 40. The two-woman IWU squad placed eighth with 14 points as Wheaton (Mass.) won the event with 47 points and Lincoln (Pa.) was second with 41.