Craw, Donavin set for indoor nationals

Cornell College senior Kirkwood Donavin learned his fate Sunday night that he'll be joining fellow senior Madison Craw aboard a flight to the eastern time zone later this week.

Donavin and Craw will represent the Rams at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by Capital University Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12 in Columbus, Ohio.

Donavin makes his national championships debut in the men's mile run as one of 12 qualifiers in the event. He'll run in the prelims at 4:50 p.m. (central time) Friday, with the top 10 finishers advancing to Saturday's finals at 3:55 p.m.

Craw is back in the championship field for the second time in the women's shot put - she placed 14th at 2009 indoor nationals. Craw is one of 15 entrants in the shot put, which begins with prelims at 12 p.m. Saturday. The top nine make the finals, held immediately after the round of prelims.

Donavin and Craw will both be bidding for all-America honors, awarded to the top eight finishers in their respective events.

Donavin qualified 10th in the mile with a school-record mark of 4 minutes, 13.06 seconds, set Feb. 11 in Grinnell. He ran 4:11.53 on an oversized track Saturday at the Iowa State University Qualifier in Ames.

Donavin is Cornell's first male athlete to compete at nationals in a non-hurdles running event since 2004, when Ean Caskey placed eighth in the 800.

The mile field is stacked with five returning all-Americans, including defending champion Nick Guarino of SUNY Fredonia. Guarino has the season's fastest time of 4:05.68. Other all-Americans back are Amherst's Will Yochum (second in 2010), UW-Platteville's Patrick Klein (fourth), New York University's Matt Turlip (sixth) and Denison's Makorobondo Salukombo (seventh).

"I'm so ecstatic for Donavin after how close he was to qualifying at the regional (cross country) meet," Cornell head coach Lonnie Speidel said. "The tough part is getting in. He deserves to be in. This is icing on the cake to a fine indoor season."

Craw enters the shot put competition tied for the fifth-best mark at 46 feet, 0.5 inches, an NCAA automatic mark she set Feb. 19 in Dubuque. She is one of six competitors to throw over 46 feet this season.

Mindy Harrington of Carthage is the top qualifier at 51-11.75. The field features four returning all-Americans in Calvin's Sarah Reasoner (second in 2010), UW-Oshkosh's Holly Ozanich (third) and Jecel Gerner (sixth) and Central's Morgan Darrow (eighth).

"Madison is in a really tough field," Speidel said. "She'll have to really get after with her first three throws in the prelims. Madison has been here before. Now she wants to take the next step and be an all-American."

Last-chance meet - Cornell junior Christal Harris wrapped up her indoor season with a personal-best performance at the Karl Schlender Last Chance Pentathlon Friday in Whitewater, Wis.

Harris placed sixth in the women's field with 2,963 points. She came up 37 points short of posting an NCAA provisional mark. Harris topped her previous-best total by six points.

Harris took third in both the long jump (16-5) and 800 (2:36.08). She was fifth in the shot put (30-3.50), sixth in the 55 hurdles (9.21) and eighth in the high jump (4-9.50).