MSU Track & Field at Nationals - Binsfeld Wins
03/10/07
Genevieve Binsfeld won her second national title of the school year by taking the indoor track & field 3000 meter race in Johnson City, Tennessee.
Content to run in second place for the first 1000 meters, Binsfeld took the lead when the pace began to slow and held it until the 2400 meter mark. The eventual second place finisher, Samantha Modderman of Cedarville (OH) University took over the lead and held it past the bell lap when Binsfeld began to sprint with 220 meters to go. Binsfeld widened the gap on the back stretch by a couple seconds and was able to hold on to win in 9:57.96 to 9:59.39. In the process Binsfeld broke her two year old school record by three seconds.
The beavers got another strong performance from senior Zach Burdick in the men's 3000 meter run with his seventh place finish. With one lap to go on the 280 meter track Burdick was on the back end of a pack of four. The three got a jump on him at the bell, but Burdick charged hard the last 100 meters to come within seven tenths of a second of earning All American honors that the top six achieved. Burdick's time of 8:33.53 was a personal best by almost six seconds and his highest finish at a national championship.
Starting the final day of the championships for the Beavers was sophomore Julia Williams who finished 28th in the shot put with a best put of 37 feet 5.25 inches. Finishing out the day was freshman Johanna Jellie in the high jump. Jellie along with six other competitors was not able to clear the opening height of 5 feet 3 inches (1.60m), but came away with a lot of valuable experience for future trips to the national championships.
The women's team finished tied for 19th with 10 points based on Binsfeld's win. Binsfeld becomes just the second female beaver to win an indoor title along with former throwing great Donelle Carter. Binsfeld joins Carter in another distinction of earning multiple national championships.