Tuesday, March 9, 2004

MORAVIAN’S ROTZELL TO COMPETE AT NCAA DIVISION III INDOOR
TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS

WHITEWATER, WI --- Moravian College junior jumper/sprinter Kirsten Rotzell (Bangor, PA/Bangor HS) will compete in three events at the 2004 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships hosted by the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater on Friday and Saturday, March 12th and 13th.

Rotzell will open her trip fourth trip to the NCAA Championships, her second indoors, on Friday at 11:00 a.m. central time in the long jump. Rotzell enters the meet with the seventh best jump in the nation this year at 5.48 meters (17 feet, 11 ¾ inches). She was also be competing in the 55-meter hurdles on Friday at 6:20 p.m. central time. Rotzell is tied for 13th in the nation heading into the event with a time of 8.46 seconds.

On Saturday, Rotzell will participate in the triple jump at 1:30 p.m. central time. Her best leap of the season is 11.37 meters (37 feet, 3 ¾ inches), which ranks 15th in the nation.

Moravian expected to have at least one other national qualifier in senior Joe Moore (Andover, NJ/Newton HS); however, the NCAA declared the jumping pit at Susquehanna University was in violation of NCAA rules. The pit was one of 16 declared ineligible last Friday, two days before the cutoff for the national meet, eliminating the distances from 25 meets this season. Moore, who is the defending NCAA Indoor Champion in the long jump, was forced to use his provisional qualifying distance of 6.98 meters (22 feet, 11 inches) from the Kane Invitational hosted by Cornell University on February 14th, which was tied for 14th, instead of his jump of 7.23 meters (23 feet, 8 ¾ inches) from the MAC Championships hosted by Susquehanna on February 28th, which was the third best distance in the nation this year. The NCAA selected 12 competitors to the event.