EMPORIA, Kan. -- Holly Noller (Pawnee) capped off her career by earning the gold medal for the women's javelin at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Welch Stadium. 
        The meet featured SIUE's best-ever finish at the national championship meet in both the men's and women's championship. The SIUE women's team placed seventh overall with 31 points while the SIUE men's team took seventh place with 28 points. Lincoln captured the women's crown while Abilene Christian won the men's championship. 
        Noller turned in the top SIUE performance of the championships in a day when several Cougars earned All-American status. Noller's throw of 160 feet, 4 inches (48.88) was equal to that of runner-up Katie McMeel, of Central Washington, in terms of feet and inches, but Noller's toss was 0.02 meters past McMeel. Noller's winning throw was her final toss of the meet in the second of two flights at the championship and shattered the school record of former All-American Mekelle Beck by nearly 10 feet. 
        SIUE posted several other All-Americans in the final day of the national championship event. Over the course of the three-day event, SIUE finished with 10 individual All-Americans and a team All-American designation in the 4 X 400-meter relay. 
        Kyle Rose (Kankakee) broke the school record by nearly one-half second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 46.49, placing runner-up to Abilene Christian freshman Jordan Johnson at 46.24. Rose, a sophomore, broke the record set by teammate Jonathan Bannister last season at 46.95. 
        Phil Freimuth (Effingham) placed third in the men's javelin with a throw of 219-1 (66.78 meters). The senior broke his own school record of 205-1. SIUE teammate Dustin Bilbruck (Gillespie) just missed All-American status with a ninth-place finish. His best throw was 204-11. 
        Tairisha Sawyer (Chicago), the GLVC Outdoor Athlete of the Year, placed fourth in the 200-meter dash with a school record time of 24.17 with a wind reading of 3.7. Sawyer topped her previous mark of 24.42. 
        Brian Taghon (East Moline) took fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and walked away with All-American honors. The junior's time of 9:23.00 was nearly 10 seconds behind his previous best. 
        Anthony Weber (Marengo) took fourth in the pole vault, the final event of the meet. Weber leaped 16-6.75 but settled for fourth because of a tiebreaker with bronze medalist Bryant Wilson, of Grand Valley State. 
        Deserea Brown (Flossmoor), the GLVC Freshman of the Year, took fourth place and All-American status in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 59.33. It is the first time in school history that a Cougar has broken the 60-second barrier. 
        Steve Landers (Auburn) placed fifth for All-American status in the men's discus. His throw of 168-7 (51.39) was two inches shorter than his previous best. 
        The SIUE 1,600-meter relay team also recorded All-American honors with a sixth-place finish in 3:41.57. The time set by Sawyer, Valerie Simmons (St. Louis), Angel Royston (Florissant, Mo.) and Brown was about three seconds less than the school record set earlier thie season. 
                -siue cougars-