LC's Bell, RC's Graves All-Americans

ODAC Athletes Conclude Competition at NCAA Track Championships

CLAREMONT, Calif. --- Lynchburg College's James Bell and Roanoke College's Carmen Graves earned All-America recognition at the 2012 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps last week.  The honors highlight the performances of six ODAC student-athletes during the three-day affair.

Click HERE for full results from the 2012 NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships

Starting 17th after the first five events of the decathlon, Bell stormed back to place third overall in the 10-event discipline with a personal-best 6,742 points.  Bell, who began the second day with 3,282 points, opened with the 110-meter hurdles, in which he finished 10th (15.67 for 770pts.).  Then it was Bell's turn to shine as he finished fifth in the discus (113' 6" for 556pts.) followed by a victory in the pole vault (15' 9" for 849pts.) and third place showing in the javelin (173' 7" for 632pts.).  He capped his performance with a ninth place showing in the 1,500-meter run (4:44.31 for 653pts.) to secure the second All-American honor of his career.

In the same competition, Washington and University's Dillon Myers improved his position, finishing 11th overall after sitting 13th following day one.  In the next three events, Myers placed 15th in the 110-meter hurdles (16.11 for 720pts.), 13th in the discus (106' 7" for 514pts.), and 14th in the pole vault (12' 9.5" for 590pts.).  He ended his competition with a pair of strong performances as he placed fifth in the javelin (164' 1" for 589pts.) and won the 1,500-meter run (4:31.27 for 736pts.) to finish with a 6,515 points.

Fellow General Zander Tallman competed in his second event of the championships.  After placing 20th (22.26) in the 200-meter dash on the first day of competition, Tallman took part in the 400-meter dash preliminaries on day two.  His time of 48.90 was good enough for 11th overall, but did not qualify for the finals.

On the women's side, Graves took fourth in the finals of the 800-meter run (2:08.45) to lock up her second All-American award of the 2011-12 track season (includes indoor).  She entered the race with the fifth best time in the preliminaries (2:09.44).  Her 800 seed-time of 2:07.32 will stand as the fastest time in NCAA Division III in 2012.  Graves has garnered a number of honors in her junior year at Roanoke.  She was named ODAC Athlete of the Meet at the ODAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships, South/Southeast Region Indoor Track Athlete of the Year and placed third at the NCAA Div. III Indoor Championships in the 800-meter event, earning All-American honors.

Bridgewater College's Olivia Mills took part in her second event of the championships.  The ODAC cross country champion placed 10th in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 17:26.13.  During the first day, Mills finished 21st in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:55.06.

Shenandoah University's Amy Smith also hit the track for the 3,000-meter steeplechase on the first day.  She completed the extended hurdles event in 11:25.04, which put her in 21st place.

For more information, click HERE, or visit the websites of any of the participating schools.  You can also go to the ODAC's home on the Internet atwww.odaconline.com.