Three Spartans Earn All-American Honors at Indoor Championships
Mar 11, 2017
NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Five members of the University of Dubuque track and field teams participated in the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships this weekend with three Spartans bringing home All-American honors.
Tanasha Atwater pulled in All-American honors in two different events. On Friday morning in the weight throw, Atwater was in eighth placed until she launched a throw of 18.36m in her fifth attempt to move her into fourth place where she would finish. Atwater shifted to the shot put on Saturday morning, where her longest throw was 14.42m, where she would finish in fourth place again. Atwater finished in 12th place in the shot put at last year’s DIII Indoor Championships.
Blaze Murfin joined Atwater in earning All-American honors in both the weight throw and shot put. After finishing 10th place and just missing All-American honors in the 2015 NCAA DIII Indoor Championships in the weight throw, Murfin improved this year, launching a throw of 18.67m. The toss was just shy of his season PR of 18.74m but was good enough for him to finish in sixth place. Murfin also came up just 0.07m shy of his season best in the shot put but finished in fifth place with an impressive throw of 16.71m.
Alec Bass was the third and final Spartan to earn All-American honors this weekend, as he claimed fifth place in the 3000m race with a time of 8:22.65. Bass was also an All-American in the 2016 Cross Country season as he finished in 30th place at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships.
UD’s two other participants were Ron Brown and Fabiola Ortiz. Ortiz finished in 13th place in the mile with a time of 5:02.912, missing the finals. Brown participated in the weight throw but scratched on all of his throws.
The Spartans will return to the track when the outdoor season begins on April 1st at Birmingham-Southern College.
