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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Continuing the recent surge of championships by the Goshen College women's track and field team, Tina Peters defended her 2007 title with another historic win this weekend at the NAIA Indoor National Championships in Johnson City Tennessee.
The 2007 indoor and outdoor national champion in the 3000-meter racewalk again "ran" away from the competition with a time of 15:22.42. While the time was ten seconds over her top-seeded qualifying time of 15:12.09, the sophomore still easily cruised by the field finishing nearly a minute and a half in front of second place (16:43.49).
"Tina did a real nice job," explained Head Coach Rick Clark of the three-time All American. "She did exactly what she had to do."
Peter's becomes the holder of three of the seven national championships in the history of Goshen College athletics. As just a sophomore, Peter's becomes the first Maple Leaf to hold three national titles. With an excellent chance at winning another at the outdoor championships in St. Louis, Peter's could add a fourth national title in just two years.
"It is always nice to have someone on the awards stand," added Clark. "You don't ever want to get used to that."
Junior Deanna Kronk also made waves on the national stage as she earned All-American honors in the weight throw. The NorthWood High School product came into the championships ranked ninth in the field of 24.
Having already broken her own school record twice this year (Click here for related article) – by a total of over three feet – Kronk again shattered her mark with a throw of 52'6 3/4" on her second attempt. Adding another foot and a half to her school record, Kronk moved into the finals of the 20-pound weight throw in fourth place.
In her second career trip to the NAIA Indoor National Championships, Kronk finished the finals in fifth place earning her first All American honors (the top six finishers receive All American recognition). Kronk narrowly missed out on All American honors in the hammer throw at the 2007 Outdoor National Championships in Fresno, California (click here for related article).
"Despite battling a cold, she (Kronk) really stepped up and performed well," explained Clark. "She is our (Goshen College) first ever All American in the weight throw. The interesting thing about track and field is that we can keep knocking off different events."
The junior also participated in the shot put, where she came in ranked 17th. Having fouled on her first two attempts, Kronk pulled off a monster throw in her final throw only to be called for another foul, disqualifying her from the event.
"It easily would have been her personal best," said Clark. "From where we were, we couldn't see a foul, but she knew exactly what she did as she just did step on the ring."
Also competing in Tennessee was Abri Houser. It was the third trip to indoor national for the junior from Newton, Kansas. In the 2007 championships, Houser grabbed the final spot in the semi-finals of the 60-meter hurdles.
Coming in ranked 18th in a field of 31, Houser finished second in her preliminary heat with a time of 9.27. Having ran the third heat – of six overall – Houser would have to wait to see if her time would qualify her for her second-straight semi-finals.
It looked promising for Houser until a fast final heat moved Houser into 13th – one spot out of the next round – by a mere two-hundredths of a second.
"Abri ran a good race," said Clark. "She ran nice through the hurdles and actually got second in her heat, but she got squeezed out at the end."
After the final team results were tallied, the Maple Leafs wrapped up a 16th place finish. It is the third straight year that Goshen has finished in the top 20 in the nation.
"Having two All-Americans and a National Champion always feels real good," added Clark. "Obviously Tina defending her title is nice, but Deanna and Abri both moved up from their qualifying rankings. They all really stepped up and performed well."
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