From: Jeff Febus (jfebus@calvin.edu)
Date: Fri May 23 2003 - 20:49:06 EDT
May 23, 2003
Andy Yazzie Continues Calvin All-America Tradition
in Steeplechase at NCAA III Championships
CANTON, NY - The Calvin College steeplechase tradition continues. On Friday
night, Calvin sophomore Andy Yazzie of Rehoboth, New Mexico, became the seventh
All-American in Calvin steeplechase history as he placed seventh in the 3,000
meter event with a personal best time of 9:10.41. It marks the ninth
All-America performance in the steeplechase overall for Calvin as well as the
third in the last six years.
A graduate of Rehoboth Christian High School, Yazzie ran a tactically smart
race from start-to-finish as he moved into 10th place in the opening two laps
and then moved into a pack of five runners vying for the final four All-America
slots (spots 5-through-8) with three laps to go. Sitting in eighth place on
the final lap, Yazzie passed one runner to claim an All-American finish.
"I knew the top-eight finishers would be All-Americans so I wanted to stay in
site of the eighth place guy," said Yazzie who was seeded 11th heading into the
race. "My teammates were screaming for me in that last lap and I didn't want
to let them down."
According to Calvin distance coach Brian Diemer, Yazzie's performance was a
thrill for the Calvin team. "I'm really excited for Andy as are the rest of
his teammates," said Diemer, a three-time U.S. Olympian in the steeplechase who
has coached every one of Calvin's steeplechase All-Americans. "Andy ran a
beautiful race. He attacked the barriers and moved up in the field of runners
at opportune times."
Yazzie also credited his coaches for his All-America performance Friday night.
"Brian (Diemer) and Al (Hoekstra) are awesome distance coaches and I have to
give them a lot of credit for my race tonight," said Yazzie. "They've
challenged me to be a better person as well as a runner. Their belief in me is
a big reason why I was able to be an All-American."
In the women's steeplechase, Calvin junior Sarah Hastings (Traverse City,
Michigan) took 14th with a time of 11:15.82.
In other Friday prelims, Calvin senior Annie VanderLaan (Grand Rapids
Christian High School) advanced to Saturday's finals in the 100 meter hurdles
with a time of 14.80 that ranked as the third-best time of the preliminaries.
Calvin sophomore Sue Abbring (Highland, IN) just missed a spot in Saturday's
championship round in the 100 meter dash as she posted the 10th best time
(12.46) of the prelims, missing a spot in the final by two-hundreths of a
second.
Heading into Saturday's championship finals, the Calvin women are in second
place with 19 points while the Calvin men are in 20th place with six points.
CALVIN STEEPLECHASE ALL-AMERICANS
Pat McNamara, 1987, 1988 and 1989
John Lumkes 1990
Matt Schellenberg 1993
Jason Washler 1995
Geoff VanDragt 1998
Justin Pfruender 2002
Andy Yazzie 2003
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