Craw earns NCAA berth with record shot put mark

Going against six national qualifiers in a loaded shot put field, Cornell senior Madison Craw beat them all and punched her own ticket to nationals with an NCAA auto and school-record launch Friday at the Augustana Twilight Meet in Rock Island, Ill.

Craw's career-best toss of 45 feet, 7.75 inches catapulted her into the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by Ohio Wesleyan May 26-28 in Delaware, Ohio. She is seeded 10th in the 24-woman shot put event which begins at 7 p.m. Friday, May 27.

"Madison had the best three-throw series of her career (13.64 meters, 13.77 and 13.91)," Cornell head coach Lonnie Speidel said. "I'm confident she is ready to go this weekend at the NCAA meet."

Craw turned in the top outdoor shot put mark in school history, breaking the old record of 45-7 set by former All-American Lynn Schneider in 2005. In Friday's competition, Craw beat runner-up Britlyn Sieck of Wartburg by more than four inches.

Craw was among a handful of Rams who notched strong performances in last-chance qualifier meets over the weekend. Craw was the only Ram to earn a berth to nationals.

Senior distance runner Allie Jagielo went out in style with a personal-best 18:24.15 clocking in the 5000 Thursday at the Gregory Invitational in Naperville, Ill. Jagielo's 5K mark is the second-fastest in school history, behind sophomore teammate Elise Mead's 18:20.84 registered this March. Jagielo finished 15th in a stacked 33-woman field.

Andrew Tobben also posted a personal-best effort in his final collegiate race. He ran 31:30.44 in the 10000 and placed fourth. Tobben shattered his previous-best 10K time this spring by 40 seconds. Junior Ben Jacobs finished 12th in the event in 33:02.68.

Senior indoor All-American Kirkwood Donavin placed 20th in the 1500 in 3:58.25, missing the NCAA provisional mark of 3:53.50. Chase Nowak wound up 35th out of 74 runners in the 5000 with a time of 15:27.55.

Junior Reed Skoog clocked a personal-best 50.53 in the 400 at the Augustana meet, placing 10th. Scott Riedel was 10th in the 800 in 2:02.15. Christal Harris took sixth in the women's triple jump with a mark of 34-5.75.

Craw back to nationals - Craw hopes the third time is a charm later this week as she gets set for her third national competition in the shot put. She qualified for indoor nationals in March and also competed in the 2009 indoor meet. Craw did not reach the finals in her previous two tries.

The top nine individuals qualify for the finals, with the top eight earning All-America accolades. Schneider was Cornell's last female All-American in a field event. She placed in the shot put at both indoor (third) and outdoor (eighth) meets in 2005.

This year's shot put field includes 12 returning national qualifiers from the 2010 outdoor meet. The group features four returning All-Americans in UW-Oshkosh's Jecel Gerner (second in 2010) and Holly Ozanich (fourth), Central's Morgan Darrow (fifth) and Coe's Sarah Anciaux (seventh). Ozanich owns the top qualifying mark at 48-4.75. Eleven of the 24 competitors are seniors.