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Results

BEREA, Ohio (May 29, 2010) - North Central College high jumper Michelle Criscione earned her first NCAA Division III All-America certificate on Saturday, finishing in a four-way tie for fifth place on the final day of the 2010 Division III Outdoor National Championships at Baldwin-Wallace College.

Criscione, who was also seeded fifth heading into the event with a career-best clearance of 5'6", wound up clearing 5'5 3/4" to finish in a deadlock with Emily Amburgey of Ohio Wesleyan University, Kinsey Bak of Simpson College (Iowa), and Dayorsha Collins of Tufts University (Mass.)

Kailey Honn of Manchester College (Ind.) won the event with a clearance of 5'8".

Criscione cleared the opening three heights of the competition on her first attempt, which turned out to be pivotal as it became more evident that there would be several ties in the competition. 

"I knew it was going to take those first two jumps to be in the running for an All-American spot," she said. "That third jump, I didn't know if I was going to make it, I was pretty happy that I got it. 5'7" is still my goal, and one day I'll get it, but I'm happy with today."

Even with the early success, Criscione found herself having to make a series of adjustments to accommodate a warm day and a fast jumping surface.

"The surface is extremely fast, so I had to move back about two feet from my additional marks," she pointed out. "It was a big change, but I was running a lot faster so I had to make some adjustments."

A 2009 indoor All-American, Criscione has now earned All-America honors outdoors for the first time. 

Criscione's effort, combined with the second-place finish in the pole vault by Rachel Secrest on Thursday, gives the Cardinals two All-America certificates and 10.5 points in the team competition. The Cardinals' Brandye Jackson competed in the trials of the 100-meter hurdles, placing fifth in her heat in 14.65 seconds.