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Ryan Schipper secured All-American
honors with a third-place pole vault finish at the 2007 NCAA
Division III Outdoor National Championships. |
OSHKOSH, WIS.
- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology senior pole vaulter Ryan Schipper (Fort Wayne/ Dwenger)
capped his career with All-American honors and a third-place finish
at the 2007 NCAA Division III Track and Field Outdoor National
Championships on Friday at Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Schipper
cleared 15' 9 1/4" on his first attempt, after previously clearing
15' 3 1/2" on his first try. He tied for third-place with two
distinguished vaulters, Zach Johnson of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (cleared
17' 2 1/2" earlier in the year) and Matt Novak of Wisconsin-La
Crosse (the defending national champion).
Peter
Sprecher of Monmouth College (Ill.) won the national title with a
leap of 16' 3 1/4" to earn a tiebreak victory over runner-up John
Heinz of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
"The wind
made things a little difficult today, and an extra day waiting in
the hotel was tough on all the vaulters. I'm real proud of
Ryan's accomplishments and this is a great cap to his career," said
Rose-Hulman head coach Larry Cole.
Schipper
earned the 34th All-American award in Rose-Hulman's track and field
history, and became the 35th different student-athlete in Fightin'
Engineer athletic history to achieve All-American status.
In
addition, Schipper captured the 14th All-American honor in Rose-Hulman's
pole vault history that includes two national championships by 1998
graduate Ryan Loftus. Ryan's brother Andrew claimed six
All-American honors in his illustrious career.
The
effort marks Rose-Hulman's highest finishing track and field
All-American award since Andrew finished second in the pole vault at
the 2003 NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships at DePauw.
The
Rose-Hulman athletic department has now combined for 62 All-American
awards in its history, counting Schipper's effort. The most
recent All-American was third-team football honoree Adam Helmerich
earlier this year.
Other
career highlights for Schipper include league records in the pole
vault in both the Heartland and Southern Collegiate Athletic
Conferences; two Little State championships; a career-best vault of
16' 6 1/2" that ranks second all-time outdoors at Rose-Hulman; and
the Ruel Fox Burns Blanket Award as the top senior male athlete at
the college. |
