Juniors Ariel Robinson of Decatur and LeAnn Spesard of Paris, Ill., competed at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships held in early March.
Spesard earned All-American status with an eighth-place finish in the shot put with a throw of 13.62 meters. Robinson finished in ninth place in the 60 meters with a time of 7.796, narrowly missing qualifying for the finals by .002 second.
Their season marks had placed them in the top 15 in the nation in their events and put them solidly in the DIII Championships field. Robinson's qualifying time of 7.76 seconds was the 10th fastest in the nation in DIII. Spesard's best mark of the year, 13.90 meters, was the fifth best DIII toss during the season.
Previously, both women's and men's track teams turned in strong performances at the CCIW Indoor Track and Field Championships held in February in Naperville, Ill. The Big Blue earned four individual championships, set seven new Millikin records and saw several athletes earn All-Conference honors by finishing in the top eight in their events.
Robinson earned the CCIW championship in the 60 meters, breaking her own school record. She also broke her own record in the 200 meters, finishing second with a time of 25.69 seconds. Robinson also earned All-Conference honors in the long jump with an eighth-place finish jump of 4.94 meters. On Feb. 4, she won the 400 meters with a new Big Blue school record time of 59.20.
Senior Brittany Sherron of Rockville, Ind., was the CCIW champion in the women's weight throw, with the Big Blue sweeping the top three medalist spots and taking four of the top-five finishes. Spesard won the CCIW championship in the shot put, breaking her own Big Blue record with a throw of 13.61 meters.
In the men's competition, senior Carleston Acres of Springfield, Ill., was the CCIW champion in the 60 meters. Freshman Sendin Bajric of Arnold, Mo., was third in the 1000 meters in a school record time of 2:39.49.
Freshman Kindra Emberton of Decatur earned All-CCIW honors in the following four events and each time bettered her own Big Blue record in that event: the 5000 meters (18:15.71); 3000 meters (10:36.47); 800 meters (2:20.19); and the mile run (5:13.22). Emberton had also previously set a Big Blue school record in the 1000 meters with a time of 3:08.34.
In a February meet featuring several NCAA Division I schools, senior Kirsten Daykin of Taylorville, Ill., was third in the 600 meters in a school record time of 1:39.10.
At the Last Chance Meet in early March, the Big Blue distance medley team of Robinson, Daykin, Emberton and freshman Liz Wrobel of Tinley Park, Ill., set a Big Blue record time of 12:37.20.