FSU's Greg Burns Claims All-America Honors

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's and women's indoor track and field programs each had one representative compete at the 2010 NCAA Division II Indoor Championships on Saturday (March 13) in Albuquerque, N.M.

FSU's representatives at the national championships included men's senior pole vaulter Greg Burns and junior distance runner Tina Muir.

Burns earned All-America honors by placing sixth overall for the Bulldogs in the pole vault as he matched a personal career-best with an effort of 16-3.25 in the event.  Ryan Brown of Western Washington was the individual champion with a performance of 16-11 in Saturday's competition.  With Burns' sixth-place effort, the Bulldogs tallied three points in the men's action at the national meet.

Finally, Muir came in 13th overall of 14 runners in the women's 5,000 meters as she was clocked in 17:51.84.  The individual winner was Neely Spece of Shippensburg (Pa.), who was timed in 17:19.98 on Saturday night.

A total of nearly 400 student-athletes qualified for the meet by reaching the automatic or provisional standards established for each event. The University of New Mexico served as hosts of the championships with the track and field action taking place in UNM's Convention Center. The top eight finishers in each event earned All-America recognition.

Burns was making his first appearance in a national competition after winning the pole vault at the recent (Feb. 26-27) Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Indoor Championships with a school-record performance (16-3.25) at Grand Valley State's Laker Turf Building in Allendale, Mich.

Burns is only the third FSU men's track and field athlete since 1993 to claim Division II All-America status at either the indoor or outdoor national meets.

This year marked Muir's second-straight appearance at the indoor nationals as she also competed at the national meet in 2009, but came up short of earning All-America kudos in the women's 5,000 meters with a 12th-place overall (17:28.90) performance. She went on to receive outdoor All-America accolades in the same event by placing fourth overall with a time of 16:56.92 at the 2009 NCAA-II Outdoor Championships held in San Angelo, Texas.