Women's Track & Field Team Well Represented At NCAA Championships

The Wheaton College women's track & field team, ranked no.7 overall in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national poll, will send five student-athletes to the 2013 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships on March 8-9 in Naperville, Illinois, hosted by North Central, at the Al B. Carius Track facility.

Junior All-American Ashante Little (Seabrook, N.H./Winnacunnet)highlights the field as the sprinter is seeded second overall in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.71-seconds and second in the 400-meter dash (56.58-seconds).

Little will also compete in the 4x400-meter relay with senior All-American's Amanda Claflin (Pembroke, Mass./Pembroke) andSamantha Bennett (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth) and junior Meredith Scannell (San Marino, Calif./San Marino). The Lyons are seeded fifth with a time of 3:52.23.

In the 60-meter dash, Claflin ranks 13^th overall out of a field of 15 competitors with a seed time of 7.76-seconds. Claflin posted that mark in the preliminary round of the 60-meter dash at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational on February 1. Claflin finished sixth overall out of 93 competitors in the finals with a time of 7.78-seconds. Claflin clocked the fastest time among all NCAA Division III student-athletes in a field comprised mostly of NCAA Division I student-athletes.

Bennett checks in as the 14^th-seed in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:14.91. The junior middle distance runner holds the school record in the event with a time of 2:13.74 which she set on February 22 at the All-New England Championships. Bennett broke the program record previously held by eight-time All-American Niara Woods '02.

Junior Mollie Lane (Hanover, Mass./Hanover) rounds out the list of student-athletes who will represent Wheaton at the 2013 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Lane is seeded 14^th overall in the high jump with a height of 5-feet and 6-inches. Lane recorded that mark which stands as her career best in the event at the Wheaton Invitational on January 19. Lane won the event out-jumping the field's second place finisher by 3.75-inches.

Scannell, who will run the anchor leg of the 4x400-meter relay, has competed in 13 events for the Lyons this season (six individual and seven relays). Scannell has run in a pair of open 400-meter races this season registering times of 58.18-seconds and 59.75-seconds. Scannell's mark of 58.18-seconds was good enough for seventh place overall at the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships last weekend.

The 2013 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships can be viewed live courtesy of Flotrack by accessing the following link:NCAA D3 Championships. The entrant's list can also be found here: 2013 NCAA Championship Entries.