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March 21, 2005 —
The Saginaw Valley State University track team had two athletes earn All-American honors at the 2005 NCAA Division II Indoor Track Championships Friday and Saturday, March 11-12 in Boston.
Senior Mary Jo Pouillon and Freshman Eltaro Hooper earned the honors in the shot put and high jump, respectively.
Overall, the team sent four men and Pouillon to the east coast.
"I was real happy with the kids and I was happy we had as many people [competing in the meet]," said Head Coach Jim Nesbitt. "I'm very pleased with Eltaro and Mary Jo."
Hooper earned his spot by placing seventh overall with a jump of 6' 9.5", while Poluillon also placed seventh with a throw of 45' 6.5".
Selecting All-Americans in track is different then in other sports, where an athlete is generally voted in. In track, the honor depends on performance and whether or not the athlete places in the top eight at the championship event. Since both Hooper and Pouillon finished seventh, it earned them All-American status and a place in the SVSU record books.
The three other Cardinals who competed were Senior Mario Guerrero, who placed tenth in the high jump with a jump of 6' 7.5", Junior Chris Baranek, who finished 11th in the 60-yard dash with a time of 6.92 seconds, and Junior Adam Roach, who placed 16th in the mile run, coming in at 4:20.49 minutes.
Some of members of the track team were disappointed about not placing in the top eight for their team, but Nesbitt put the entire experience into perspective.
"A lot of people are sitting back at their home towns and never made the trip here," he said. "If you don't race, you can't place."
On the men's side, SVSU finished third in the GLIAC. The women finished seventh in the conference.
The Cardinals open the outdoor track season on Saturday, April 2 in the St. Joseph's University Invitational.