Home
NPU Athlete Earns Second All-America Honor
BLOOMINGTON, IL (March 14, 2005) - North Park University (NPU) senior Lucia
Abel earned her second All-America honor during her collegiate career by
finishing fifth in the NCAA
Division III indoor track and field nationals at Illinois Wesleyan
University.
Abel leaped 18 feet, 4 and 1/4 inches during Friday's long jump
competition after qualifying earlier that day with a 17-9 3/4 jump.
Kristal Grigsby of the University of St. Thomas (MN) won the event with
a leap of 19-2 1/2.
On Saturday, Abel made the finals of the triple jump competition,
placing ninth with a leap of 37-6. Andrea Herbert of New Jersey City
University leaped 39-10 ½ to take top honors.
A native of Angola, Abel lived as a refugee in Namibia before leaving
Africa to attend NPU. A year ago at indoor nationals, Abel earned
All-America honors by placing seventh in the long jump, leaping 17-8
3/4. Heading into Friday's long jump event, Abel was seeded eighth in
the nation, having leaped 18-2 1/2 – a new school record - at the
Chicagoland indoor track and field championships on February 18. She
also finished second in the recent College Conference of Illinois and
Wisconsin meet.
Abel won the conference triple jump title with a leap of 37-4 1/2 before
Saturday's effort. She also competed at last year's indoor nationals in
the triple jump.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
