La CROSSE, WIS. - Cortland junior Africa Harper (Bronx/John F. Kennedy) broke the school record in the 400-meter dash during the second day of competition at the NCAA Div. III Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Harper finished fourth in her heat and 12th overall with a time of 56.59 seconds. She missed qualifying for Saturday's finals by 0.25 seconds. Harper's time is a new school record; the previous mark of 56.4 seconds (hand time) by Sarah Speicher in 2002 converts to 56.64 seconds in fully automated timing, making Harper's performance the new record.

Sophomore Taylor Hudson (Victor) and senior Nikki Schafer (Troy/Columbia) completed the heptathlon on Friday. Hudson finished 11th with 4,531 points and Schafer was 19th with 4,347 points. Hudson was second after Thursday's first four events, but dropped to seventh after two events on Friday and 11th after the last event, the 800-meter run. Elizabeth Krug of Hendrix won the national title with 4,835 points.

During the heptathlon, Hudson tied for sixth in the long jump (5.24 meters - 17' 2.25"), finished 15th in the javelin (28.08 meters - 92' 1") and was 21st in the 800 meters (2:47.55). Schafer was 21st in the long jump (4.80 meters - 15' 9"), 16th in the javelin (28.01 meters - 91' 11") and 19th in the 800 meters (2:37.95).

Also on Friday, junior Sarah Bonnell (Norwich) finished 18th overall (fifth in her heat) in the 100-meter dash prelims in 12.32 seconds and did not advance to the finals. Also, Hudson competed in the high jump finals and finished 16th after clearing 1.64 meters (5' 4.5"). Elizabeth Evans of Rose-Hulman won the high jump national title at 1.79 meters (5' 10.5").

Cortland wraps up nationals on Saturday when senior Amber Stephens (Stony Point/North Rockland) competes in the triple jump finals at 3:20 p.m. (Central).

Championship Web Page (includes video and results links)