Ellingson, Bak make NCAA Championship field

INDIANOLA - Track and field athletes Catie Ellingson and Kinsey Bak will represent Simpson at the 2011 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships this weekend in Columbus, Ohio, as announced late Sunday.

The meet will take place at Capital University's Capital Center in Columbus on Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12. Competition begins at 9 a.m. EST each day.

Fresh off a record-breaking performance at Saturday's Iowa State Last Chance Meet, three-time All-American Ellingson enters the weekend as one of the top competitors in the Mile. At ISU, the senior from Indianola broke the tape in 4:49.58 on the banked track, which converts to 4:51.38 for a non-banked track. The time is a career-best and shattered the school record of 4:57.97 she set one week earlier at the Iowa Conference Championships. Her time ranks second in the nation.

Ellingson makes her third trip to indoor nationals, competing in the Mile for the first time. She placed fifth in the 800 as a freshman in 2008 and just missed qualifying for the finals in the 800 as a junior in 2010.

Bak put forth a record-setting performance Saturday as well. The junior from Hinton, Iowa cleared 5-6 on the high jump, tying a school record and topping her career-best effort of 5-5 3/4. She placed sixth at the meet and finds herself in a tie for the sixth in the nation.

A two-time All-American, Bak took third in the high jump a year ago. She also competed in the pentathlon, placing 11th.

Lauren Anderson, a senior from Oakland, Iowa, just missed qualifying for Nationals in the 55-meter hurdles. Anderson posted a career-best time of 8.37 at the ISU Last Chance Meet, which put her in a tie for 17th in the nation. The committe took the top 16 times, which left Anderson on the outside-looking in by .02 seconds.

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