SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – May 26, 2007 – Add Alex Kampersal and Nikki Hay to the names of Dominic Uguccioni and Kelsey Bishop among Springfield College athletes who have achieved All-American status at the 2007 NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Yesterday, Uguccioni, a junior from Colrain, Mass., threw the hammer 180 feet, 5 inches to finish sixth. And Bishop, a sophomore from Warwick, R.I., threw the hammer a school-record 171 feet, 4 inches to also finish sixth. Her toss broke the previous school record of 170 feet, 6 inches, which had been set by Ilana Garbowit back in 1999.
Today, three more SC athletes competed, two of which finished high enough to become All-Americans. Senior Alex Kampersal (Natick, Mass.) became an All-American for the second straight year. He finished fifth in the shot put with a toss of 53 feet, 5 ¾ inches. Last year (2006), Alex finished fifth at the indoor NCAA Track and Field Championships.
Hay, a freshman from Norwalk, Conn., finished sixth in the triple jump with a school-record leap of 38 feet, 1 ¼ inches. That broke the old SC record of 37 feet, 7 ¼ inches, previously held by Karyn Walton in 1993.
The four All-Americans thus become the 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd All-Americans that Springfield College has produced this past academic year (all sports).
Also competing for SC on Saturday was senior Cameron Turchetti (South Deerfield, Mass.) in the javelin. He finished 10th with a toss of 183 feet, 9 inches. It was the second straight year that Cameron had competed at the nationals.
As a team, the SC men finished in a tie for 37th of 79 scoring teams with seven points. The SC women finished in a tie for 39th of 74 scoring teams with six points.
Ken Klatka, just inducted into the Springfield College Athletic Hall of Fame in October, 2011, enters his 37th season as head coach of the men’s track and field program in 2012-2013. He ranks among the nation’s most successful coaches, with an overall record of 442 wins, 144 losses, and two ties for an impressive .753 winning percentage. Under his direction, Kevin Coyle '12 won the 2011 Division III Indoor Long Jump National Championship.
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