Neeia Cooperwood, a junior from Omaha, Neb., earned NAIA All-America honors in two events at the 2014 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships in Geneva, Ohio.

Neeia Cooperwood, a junior from Omaha, Neb., earned NAIA All-America honors with a fifth place finish in the women’s 200-meters in Saturday’s action at the 2014 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships in Geneva, Ohio.

Cooperwood ran a time of 24.53 seconds in the finals to finish behind Jura Levy of Oklahoma Baptist University (23.56) and Indiana Tech University’s Brianna Woods (24.00), Shayla France (24.13), and Chloe Brooks (24.20). Levy, a senior, won her third consecutive NAIA National Championship in the event.

Cooperwood earned All-America honors for the fifth time in her Morningside career, including her second time at this year’s indoor nationals. She placed third in Friday’s long jump with a distance of 18-11 3/4.

Morningside’s Garret Ehlers, a senior from Ida Grove, Iowa, competed in Saturday’s finals of the men’s 5000-meters and finished 10th with a time of 15:05.22.

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Neeia Cooperwood, a junior from Omaha, Neb., earned NAIA All-America honors for the fourth time in her Morningside College career with a third place finish in the women’s long jump on Friday at the 2014 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships in Geneva, Ohio.

Cooperwood had a distance of 18-11 3/4 on her third attempt to finish behind defending NAIA National Champion Akela Jones of Oklahoma Baptist University (20-6 1/2) and Ashley Watley of Indiana Tech University (19-3 1/2). Cooperwood was the nation’s fourth leading qualifier going into the NAIA National Championships.

Aside from her third place finish in the long jump, Cooperwood also advanced to Saturday’s final in the 200-meters. She finished second in her Friday preliminary heat with a school-record time of 24.38 seconds for the sixth fastest time among the finalists. Cooperwood broke her own school record time of 24.72 she set last season.

Cooperwood also earned All-America honors with a third place finish in the long jump and a fifth place finish in the 200-meters at last year’s NAIA Outdoor National Championships and with an eighth place finish in the long jump at the 2012 NAIA Outdoor Nationals.

Jay Welp, a junior from Marcus, Iowa, competed in Friday’s prelims of the men’s 800-meters, but failed to advance after he finished sixth in his heat and 11th overall with a time of 1:55.40. The time was Welp’s fastest of the indoor season after he had qualified for the NAIA national meet with a runner-up time of 1:55.69 at the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Indoor Championships.

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Garret Ehlers, a senior from Ida Grove, Iowa, qualified for the finals in the men’s 5000-meters during Thursday’s preliminaries at the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships in Geneva, Ohio.

Ehlers finished fourth in his preliminary heat with a time of 14:51.34 for the seventh fastest qualifying time among the finalists. He finished just shy of the Morningside record of 14:51.23 set by Bret Taber in 1993.

Morningside missed qualifying for the finals by one spot in both the men’s and women’s 3200-meter relays.

The Mustangs, two-time defending national champions in the men’s 3200-meter relay, finished fourth in their heat and ninth overall in the prelims with a time of 7:44.05 from the quartet of Drew Schiltz, a freshman from Hinton, Iowa; Alec DeVries, a freshman from Merrill, Iowa; Brad Wright, a junior from Mullen, Neb.; and Jay Welp, a junior from Marcus, Iowa.

Morningside’s women’s 3200-meter relay team of Tori Figge, a freshman from Rock Rapids, Iowa; Shelby Hall, a sophomore from Woodbine, Iowa; Tori Pothast, a freshman from Melbourne, Iowa; and Jennifer Petsche, a sophomore from Onawa, Iowa, finished third in their heat and ninth overall in the prelims with a time of 9:21.00.

Results