Carol Comp is NCAA champ; UST relay gets second

March 14, 2008

St. Thomas senior Carol Comp started the day as the No. 10 seed in the weight throw... but finished as a national champion.

Comp, in her first national meet, won Friday's weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Ada, Ohio in a new school record best of 56-10 1-4 to win by six inches and secure 10 team points.

The Tommies came back with a second-place finish in the evening distance-medley relay and lead the meet after four events with 18 teams points. The UST quartet of Nikki Arola, Kelly Russ, Erin Sprangers and Katie Theisen clocked 11:48.10, just behind Tufts' winning time of 11:46.79.

Comp claimed the 49th NCAA track and field individual championship in school history. Comp was seeded 10th with a season best of 54-1 1-4. She placed eighth and sixth in this event in the 2006 and 2007 conference meets but swept the 2008 MIAC weight throw and shot put.

It's the fifth year in a row Coach Joe Sweneey has had a field-event national champion, indoors or outdoors. Comp is the first Tommie to capture an NCAA weight throw since 1993 when Pat Ahern -- Comp's current throws coach -- did it.

UST senior teammate Shara Guidry just missed the weight-throw finals by one spot as she threw 52-4 3-4 in the prelims.

On Saturday, Tommie senior Selina Dehn is seeded third in the triple jump and Guidry will compete in the shot put. In 2007, 23 points tied for seventh place.

Team Leaders through Friday (4 of 14 events)

St. Thomas 18; UW-LaCrosse 16; Keene State (N.H.) 11; Tufts (Mass.) 10; Richard Stockton (N.J.) 8; SUNY-Fredonia 8; Cabrini (Pa.) 8; Williams (Mass.) 6; Wheaton (Mass.) 6; Wartburg (Iowa) 6; Greenville (S.C.) 6; Allegheny (Pa.) 6.

Click here for complete results:

http://www.onusports.com/NCAATrack08/results/index.html