BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Two fifth-place finishes for the University of Mary at the 2015 NCAA Division II Women's Indoor Track & Field Championships equals five new All-Americans for the Marauders. Both Davina Carr in the pole vault and the Distance Medley Relay team claimed fifth on the opening day of the championships to earn All-American honors.
 
Additionally, Kathryn Stewart advanced to the finals of the 200 meter dash with an 8^th place finish in the preliminaries.
 
Carr claimed All-American honors in her first NCAA championship meet. The sophomore from Nine Mile Falls, Wash., cleared 12' 9.5" (3.90m) to place fifth in the nation. She just missed her career-best by .01 meters.
 
After passing on the opening height of 11' 9.75", Carr nearly missed the next height of 12' 3.5". It took until her third of three chances to reach the height and advance. After sailing over the bar at 12' 9.75" on her first attempt, Carr, was unable to successfully clear 13' 1.5".
 
In the final women's event of the day, the Marauders DMR team posted a time of 11:37.43 to place fifth in the event. While the Marauders had the second best time in the nation entering the event, had U-Mary run its best qualifying time of the season the squad would still have finished fifth.
 
Running two freshmen, a sophomore and a senior, the Marauders found themselves as the frontrunner early. Freshman Brittany Brownotter in the 1,200, sophomore Cassandra Jones in the 400 and senior Brienna Lynch in the 800 had a slight lead going into the final leg but it took a personal record from freshman Alexis Zeis in the mile to bring the Marauders home in fifth and earn the squad All-American honors.
 
This is the third All-American honor for Jones, the second for Lynch and Zeis and the first for Brownotter.
 
Competing in two individual events on Friday, Stewart earned a slot in Saturday's finals in one. The six-time All-American opened the day running the 60 meter dash in 7.64 seconds, placing her second in her heat and 16^th overall.
 
The senior from Kingston, Jamaica, then bounced back in the 200 meter dash. Stewart posted a mark of 24.55 to grab the eighth and final spot in the NCAA finals. A successful race will earn her All-American honors.
 
Several other Marauders also will compete in the finals on Saturday. First up is Danylle Kurywchak in the triple jump at 4 p.m. Stewart follows in the 200 meter finals at 5:20 p.m. with Zeis running in the 3,000 meter finals at 5:40 p.m.  
 
The 2015 NCAA championships conclude for the Marauders with Stewart, Jones, Melanie Rodriguez and Josie Guptill competing in the 4x400 meter relay at 6:15 p.m.
 
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