Indianapolis, IN --- Highlighted by senior Briana Wise (Worcester, MA/Burncoat), five Worcester State female student-athletes will be representing the institution at this week's NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships hosted by Wisconsin-Lacrosse.
The announcement came from the NCAA on Sunday evening as the top 22 times, distances, jumps, marks and point totals along with the best 16 relay times during the course of the outdoor season are chosen for selection to the three-day national meet which starts on Thursday, May 23.
Wise will compete in the 100 and 200 meters while she will anchor the 4x100 meter relay which includes junior Christy Deininger (N. Attleboro, MA) in addition to sophomore teammates Brittany Hodgerney (Leicester, MA) and Liz Bodensieck (Raynham, MA).
Deininger also travels with her starting blocks for the 100 meter hurdles and sophomore Alyssa Jasper (Rockland, MA) will head to Wisconsin with a top five mark nationally in the javelin.
Wise has earned her second consecutive trip to the NCAA's in both the 100 and the 200.
Her 200 meter time of 24.55 is the sixth-best split in Division III as she clocked it this past Saturday for second overall at the ECAC Division III Championships.
She returns as the NCAA Division III Outdoor National Runner-Up in the event (24.33) and Wise will be the only New England competitor in the field which starts on 6:45 PM EST on Thursday in the eighth lane of the third heat.
Wise also put up the 13th best split in the 100 meters two weeks ago at the Open New England Championships in the trials with a time of 12.11 – just 0.07 seconds off her school-record time. At the NCAA's in 2012, Wise sprinted to a 12.15 last season for 14th place.
She joins freshman Camille Coklow (Chicago, IL) of Mount Holyoke and junior Amanda Clafin (Pembroke, MA) of Wheaton as representatives from New England in the 100 which will be contested on Friday at 7:30 PM EST. Wise will run in the third lane of the first heat.
Deininger and Jasper are also both making their second straight trip to the national meet as they will try to vie for All-American accolades this time around.
With the 20th fastest time in the 100 meter hurdles, Deininger established a new program standard for third place at the ECAC Championships (14.52). At the NCAA's a season ago, she tied the then program standard with a time of 14.56 which was good for 18th overall.
In the 100 meter hurdles on Friday at 6:05 PM EST, Deininger will compete with four other student-athletes from New England including local rival Adrianna Davis (Chelmsford, MA) of WPI. She will line up in the second lane of the opening heat.
Jasper's second-year campaign has been nothing short of stellar. Her school-record toss of 147-4 (44.91 meters) at the New England Alliance/MASCAC Championships on April 29 stood up as the fourth-best toss in the NCAA Division III.
In her rookie season, Jasper had the 15th best throw with a mark of 131-9 (40.15m) at the outdoor championships. The regional contingent includes freshman Tilly Taylor (S. Deerfield, MA) of MIT for the competition which will start on Saturday at 4:45 PM EST. Both will compete in the first heat as the top nine spots qualify for the finals.
Wise, Deininger and Hodgerney return to the NCAAs in the 4x100 relay as they will try to become the Worcester State's first-ever relay squad to earn All-American accolades on Thursday at 5 PM EST in the ninth lane of the first heat.
The 4x100 relay team enters the field with the eighth fastest time in Division III and the second fastest split in New England this season. The squad has run a campaign best 47.59, which was fifth place at the Open New England Championships two weeks ago. Last year the team was 11th out of 16 entries (47.56) at the NCAA's.
Other competitors from the MASCAC include senior Molly Rouillard (Dartmouth, MA) in both the 1,500 and the 5,000 while freshman Naloti Palma-Kaluma (Westborough, MA) of Westfield State goes in the shot put.
NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship Accepted Entries