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EAST STROUDSBURG – Senior Dan Johnson and juniors Corinne Fitzgerald and Matt Tholis will represent East Stroudsburg University at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships, May 24-26 at Colorado State-Pueblo, it was announced Tuesday.
Johnson will be the first ESU athlete to compete at the national level in the decathlon after winning the PSAC title with 6,925 points on May 3-4 at Bloomsburg, shattering his previous school record by 409 points. He is the sixth seed in a field of 12 athletes.
Johnson, ESU's Senior Men's Scholar-Athlete of the Year, is a six-time NCAA provisional qualifier – three times each in the decathlon and heptathlon. He holds school records in both events and had PR's in six of the 10 events – 100m, 400m, 110m hurdles, discus, javelin and 1500m – to post his record score in the decathlon.
Fitzgerald will be making her second straight trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 3000m steeplechase, and her second trip to an NCAA Championship this year. She was a national qualifier in cross country in the fall, following her trip in the steeplechase last spring.
Fitzgerald ran her NCAA provisional time of 10:41.72 at the Penn Relays on April 26 to break her own school record. She won the PSAC championship in 10:50.72 at Bloomsburg and is seeded 16th of 17 qualifiers in the event. The field includes 13 athletes who ran the automatic qualifying time of 10:35. She placed 15th at last year's NCAA Championships.
Tholis, a transfer from Rowan, will make his second trip to an NCAA Championship and the first at the Division II level. He was a Division III national qualifier in 2010 before taking last year off from intercollegiate competition.
Tholis will be the 13th ESU athlete to compete in the men's javelin and the seventh in the last 12 years. Seven of the first 12 Warriors came home with All-America status, including Josh Hontz who was the national runner-up last year and took a redshirt this spring to train for the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Tholis was the PSAC runner-up with a mark of 212-6 and is seeded ninth of 16 competitors. He is one of five from the PSAC, four of whom are in the top 10. Tholis hit throws of 209-4 at Lafayette on April 1 and 208-4 at the Penn Relays on April 28 before unloading his final NCAA provisional mark on May 5.
ESU Schedule
Thursday
Decathlon day 1 - Dan Johnson
8:40 PM ET - 3000m Steeplechase prelims - Corinne Fitzgerald
Friday
Decathlon day 2 - Dan Johnson
9:15 PM ET - 3000m Steeplechase finals - Corinne Fitzgerald
Saturday
1:15 PM ET - Javelin - Matt Tholis
