FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Tuesday, March 5, 2002)

WESLEYAN QUALIFIES FOUR WOMEN FOR NCAA DIV. III INDOOR MEET

Wesleyan University will be represented by its largest-ever contingent of women athletes at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track Championships when three runners and a thrower travel to Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio, March 8-9, 2002.

Sophomore Jenna Flateman (Barre, Vt./Northfield Mount Hermon School), who placed fourth nationally a year ago in the 55-meter dash for All-America honors, is Wesleyan's only automatic qualifier as she ran a :07.20 during the Wesleyan Invitational on Dec. 8. She is one of six automatic qualifiers in a field of 14 for Nationals. Sophomore Brittany Allen (Madison, Wisc./James Madison Memorial HS) in the 800-meter race, junior Katy Trandem (Faribault, Minn./Faribault HS) in the 5,000-meter race and junior Caitlin Snow (Spruce Head, Me./Rockland District HS) in the 20-pound weight throw, all earned spots at the NCAAs from the provisional list. Each had their best performance of the season Saturday, March 3, at the ECAC Division III Championships at Tufts University. Allen finished fourth with a time of 2:17.93, ranking her 10th in the country in a field of 13 for Nationals. Trandem's ECAC title with a 17:39.42 clocking ranks her 11th in a field of 12 entrants. Snow, who set a Wesleyan team record with her third-place toss of 52-6, was only two inches shy of automatic qualification and ranks seventh among 12 national competitors.

While Flateman will be attending her third NCAA Championships, having participated in last year's indoor and outdoor meet, Allen, Trandem and Snow will be first-timers at the indoor meet. Prior to this year, Wesleyan had never qualified more than two individuals for the NCAA Championships though Wesleyan did send a 4x100-meter relay squad to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships this past spring.

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