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Trinity Wins Three National Championships in One Week
While most students were enjoying Spring Break, three Trinity student-athletes were winning national championships.
In the course of a week, Todd Wildman repeated as the NCAA Division III Men's Indoor Track & Field pentathlon champion, and Lindsay Martin and Hayley Emerick captured the NCAA Women's 1-meter and 3-meter Diving titles, respectively.
"Trinity is very proud of these student-athletes and their accomplishments," said Bob King, director of Athletics. "These national championships exemplify Trinity's commitment to providing its student-athletes with the resources and opportunities to compete on a national level."
With the three recent titles, Trinity raised its count of NCAA Division III national championships to 12.
NCAA Div. III Men’s Indoor Track and Field
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Wildman, from Dallas, successfully defended his pentathlon championship at the NCAA meet held at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. on March 12-13, 2010. As the name implies, there are five events in the pentathlon: 55-meter hurdles, high jump, long jump, shot put, and the 1,000-meter run. He won the 2009 pentathlon at Terre Haute, Ind., just a stone's throw from Greencastle.
Points are awarded in each competition, and Wildman collected 3,751 of them. He finished first in the 55-meter hurdles (7.58 seconds), first in the high jump (6 feet, 7 1/2 inches), fourth in the long jump (22 feet, 1 inch), seventh in the shot put (36 feet, 6 1/4 inches), and eighth in the 1,000 meters (2:58.12).
“It was nice to know that you are able to handle the pressure as a defending champion,” said Wildman, who will receive a master’s degree in accounting from Trinity in May, and plans to work for the Dallas office of Ernst & Young. “All of our athletes gave it everything they had. The recent success shows that Trinity isn't just a school limited to competing for conference championship, rather, a contender on the national level.”
Coach Svoboda in his second year as head coach of track and field, said Wildman’s accomplishments were simply amazing. “It is fun to see success at the highest levels,” said Coach Svoboda, who joined the Trinity staff from the University of Chicago. “That success brings great exposure for Trinity’s athletic program, but the celebration should be focused on the hard work these athletes have put in, and the outcomes they have achieved.”
NCAA Div. III Swimming & Diving Championships
The University of Minnesota Aquatic Center was the site of NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships in Minneapolis on March 18-20, 2010. Coach Randall, completing his eighth season as head diving coach, said he set out last fall and wrote up a program for success. “I told them we can take it all the way to the NCAAs, and win,” said Coach Randall after the NCAA meet. “We set out a plan, worked out all the details. Every Trinity diver is so talented, from No. 1 to No. 8. Everyone on the team is a tremendous success.”
The Tigers diving program actually made history
in Minneapolis. Trinity became the first Division III team to have
two divers win both national diving events.
First out of the gate was Martin, from Longview, Texas, and her
national title on the 1-meter board. Martin registered a score of
472.25. In fifth place was Emerick, from Portland, Texas, with a
score of 403.20.
Seven judges render their scores in NCAA competition, based on five dives.
Two days after the 1-meter competition, it was time for the 3-meter board.
The excitement began to grow as Emerick
established an NCAA record – in the preliminary rounds, by
scoring 517.10 in the prelim.
In the main event, Emerick won the national championship,
impressing the judges with a score of 514.15. Trinity delivered a
one-two punch in the 3-meter event, as Martin placed second, at
490.90.
Both Martin and Emerick earned All-America honors at last year's NCAA Championships, also held in Minneapolis. Martin finished third in the 1-meter event and fifth in the 3-meter event last year. Emerick was third on the 3-meter board and sixth in the 1-meter competition. In the 2008 NCAAs, held at Oxford, Ohio, Emerick was an Honorable Mention All-American on the 1-meter and 3-meter boards, finishing in ninth place.
Following this year’s championships, Martin was named NCAA Female Diver of the Meet. Coach Randall, was selected as NCAA Women’s Diving Coach of the Meet.
“My junior year was my first year to even make nationals,” said Martin, who will graduate in May with degrees in business administration and communication. “This year, Hayley and I knew that we had a chance to win, if we had a good meet. I knew I had won, once I was in the air flipping in my last dive of the competition. It was the perfect way to end my undergraduate diving career.”
Emerick was earlier named Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Female Diver of the Meet, for the third year in a row. She made SCAC diving history at the championships, held at Louisville, Ky., becoming the first female diver to win both competition boards for three consecutive years. Martin was the SCAC runner-up on both boards.
“I think this Trinity swimming and diving team has a drive to win unlike any other I’ve been on,” said Emerick, who majors in business (marketing). “I can’t see the winning tradition dying anytime soon. We have such hard working and successful coaches, and that only make the team want to work harder for them. “
Other Recent Trinity NCAA Championships
The Tiger men’s and women’s tennis teams captured the 2000 championships, in two different states, and minutes apart.
Trinity’s women’s basketball team won the NCAA title in the spring of 2003, and men’s soccer took home the trophy the following fall.
Individually, Christyn Schumann won four NCAA high jump championships. Ms. Schumann won the 2004, 2005, and 2006 NCAA Outdoor Championships, and the 2005 Indoor Championship.
“We want to give every sport the opportunity to compete on a national level,” Mr. King said. “We have had some great success in team sports, and it’s taken us a while to achieve that in individual sports. I believe in that eight-day stretch, we have achieved that goal.
