May 29, 2005
Track & Field
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GALLIER EARNS ALL-AMERICAN IN 400 HURDLES

ABILENE, Tex. - The Saginaw Valley State track and field squads were well represented with six student-athletes competing at the 2005 NCAA II Outdoor Nationals this weekend and the top performance of the nationals for SVSU went to Mandie Gallier (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) who for the second straight outdoor season was an All-American in the 400 meter hurdles. Gallier finished third in the event on Saturday from Elmer Gray Stadium in Abilene, Texas on the campus of Abilene Christian University. She ran the hurdles in a time of 59.73 in the finals and earned six team points for the Cardinals. Gallier qualified sixth on Thursday for the finals with a time of 1:00.54.
     Among the other competitors in the nationals were four men and one other woman as freshman Becca Rudey (Wixom, Mich./Walled Lake Western) rounded out the ladies' with a 18th-place finish in the 5000 meter preliminaries (19:40.19) and failed to qualify for the finals.
     Senior Jake Adams (Corunna, Mich.) started out the men's portion on Thursday with a 12th-place finish in the discus with a best toss of 164-2. Senior Pedro Ortega (Saginaw, Mich./Swan Valley) qualified for the finals in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a time of 9:26.61 (8th place) and on Saturday finished 12th in the finals with a time of 9:54.14. Freshman Eltaro Hooper (Ypsilanti, Mich./Lincoln) competed in two events at nationals and finished 13th in the triple jump (47-7.25) and failed to place in the high jump registering no height in three jumps. Junior Adam Roach (Port Huron, Mich.) placed 15th in the 5000 meter preliminaries with a time of 15:07.63 and failed to qualify for the finals.

Contact: Ryan Thompson (989) 964-4053

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