Covenant News

North Park Junior Earns All-America Honors

DECATUR, IL (June 1, 2004) - North Park University junior Lucia Abel made her mark in the NCAA Division III Track and Field meet Saturday, placing seventh in the long jump and earning All-America honors.

Abel was a bit of a surprise as a long jump entry as she ranked 20th entering the event among competitors who had made the provisional qualifying mark of 18 feet, 1/2 inches. Abel's best effort entering nationals was a leap of 18-3-1/4.

However, in the first round of the long jump event, Abel leaped 18-6 to finish fourth in her flight and qualify for the finals. That effort was good enough to earn two points for North Park in the team standings as Kristal Grigsby of the University of St. Thomas (MN) won the event with a leap of 19-10-3/4.

Abel also had qualified for nationals in the triple jump, ranking 13th heading into the event. Unfortunately, Abel's best leap of 37-8 in her flight ranked her 15th and only the top nine competitors made the finals.

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