Men's Track & Field | 3/11/2011 8:39:23 PM

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COLUMBUS, OH – Seniors Michael Dempsey of the RIT men's track and field team earned the third All-American honor of his storied career, finishing fifth in the pole vault at the 2011 NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships on Friday at Capital University.  Nicole Varble (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) of the women's team competed in the 800-meter run preliminaries on Friday, but did not qualify for the final.  Matt Marion (Lima, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima) placed ninth in the penthathlon, just missing an All-American honor.

Dempsey, who was the national runner up last year, finished fifth with a leap of 5.12 meters, just off his school record set on March 4 of 5.16 meters at the ECAC Championships. Craig Van Leewun of Ramap College won with a leap of 5.32 meters.Dempsey holds the RIT indoor and outdoor records in the pole vault.

Marion, who was an All-American in the 400-meter hurdles during the outdoor season in 2010, finished ninth out of 12 athletes in the pentathlon with a score of 3,452 points.  He did set a NCAA Championship record by winning the 1,000-meter run during the event with a time of 2:35.18.

Varble, who made her first NCAA Championship appearance, finished seventh out of eight runners in her heat and 14th of 15 overall in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:18.65, six seconds off the lead. She qualified with a time of 2:16.25 at the ECAC Championships on March 5.