he Truman Alumni Association - Alumni - Truman State University

Bulldogs Compete in
Final Day of Championships
Sophomore Dani Dell’Orco ran a
school-record 16:42.46 in taking 10th
place in the women’s 5,000-meter run
at the NCAA Division II Track & Field
Championships in Charlotte, N.C.
Dell’Orco shaved three seconds off her
previous best that was ran at the Drake
Relays in April. She earlier finished fifth to
garner All-America honors in the 10K race
on the first night of the meet. She ran
Dani Dell’Orco
34:53.13 in that race
which was also a
personal best time.
Jennifer Zweifel took
ninth in the Triple
Jump with a mark of
38-11.00. Zweifel was
competing in her first
championship meet.
After fouling on her
first attempt, Zweifel hit her longest mark
of six jumps in her next attempt to finish
fifth in her flight.
Katrina Biermann did not make a height
in the Pole Vault on Saturday. She passed
in the first round at 12-01.00 but failed
to clear the bar in three attempts at 12-
02.75. Katrina Rodriguez of Chico State
(Calif.) won the event by being the first
to clear 12-10.75.
Student-Athletes Honored
at Annual Awards Night
The Truman Athletics Department
held its annual student-athlete
recognition night on Tuesday, May
4, with swimmers Kate Aherne and
Andrew McCall, along with track and field
athlete Katrina Biermann picking up the
evening’s top honors.
McCall was named the male studentathlete
of the year, while Aherne and
Biermann shared the accolades on the
women’s side. To be eligible for the annual
award, student-athletes must have
exhausted their eligibility or be graduating
in spring 2010.
McCall became Truman State University’s
first Rhodes Scholar and was a national
qualifier in both 2008 and 2009. A threetime
all-American, McCall holds the
school record in both the 200 freestyle
relay as well as the 400 freestyle relay and
was an academic all-American twice. He
has also served as a member of the
University Orchestra.
Aherne, a three-time NCAA Champion in
the 200 individual medley, won back-toback
titles in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and
broke her own national record in the event
at this season’s championships. She also won
a fourth personal national championship as
part of the 800 freestyle national championship
relay squad in 2008.
A 27-time all-American, Aherne holds the
school records in the 200 IM, the 50
freestyle and the 100 freestyle, and was
named CollegeSwimming.com’s national
swimmer of the week four times. She
finished her career by swimming in seven
events at the 2010 Championships,
Director of Athletics Jerry Wollmering,
Kate Aherne and Katrina Biermann
finishing higher than seventh in each event.
Biermann is the Truman record holder for
both indoor and outdoor pole vault as well
as indoor and outdoor triple jump. This
past March, she became just the fifth
women’s track & field student-athlete in
school history to win a national championship,
capturing the indoor pole vaulting
title. Biermann was the first 13-foot pole
vaulter in MIAA history and is the
conference’s record holder for the indoor
pole vault.
She is a four-time MIAA champion and
all-American, encompassing both the pole
vault and triple jump. An academic all-
American in both 2008 and 2009,
Biermann was named all-MIAA four times
in both indoor pole vault and triple jump
and three times for both events in the
outdoor season.
Men’s tennis and women’s cross country
took home the team academic awards,
while Dean Baker – on behalf of the
Truman bus drivers – was awarded the Bill
Cable “Spirit of Truman” award.
Summer 2010 47