Gyorffy Takes Second at NCAAs

At the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Harvard sophomore Dora Gyorffy came within inches of claiming a first-place national finish in the high jump Saturday night.

Gyorffy bested Michigan's Nicole Forrester by just 3 cm to earn second place with a jump of 1.89 m.

Texas unseated the reigning queens of the track world, defeating Louisiana State University 51-47. LSU had gone unbeaten for five years, and was looking for its sixth consecutive national championship. The Longhorns' Erin Aldrich contributed greatly to the Texas effort, stealing the spotlight with a final-round high jump of 1.92 m.

As a freshman, Gyorffy far surpassed the automatic qualifying height of 1.86 m and competed in the NCAA Indoor Track championships. Finishing third, she set the stage for a repeat appearance in the finals.

Throughout the season, Gyorffy boosted the Crimson's overall performance with constant gold-medal performances against opposing Ivy League teams. Her contribution propelled Harvard into an undefeated indoor track season and a 6-0 regular season mark.

Although the Crimson finished third in the Heptagonal Championships last month, Gyorffy did not fail her team, contributing first-place finishes in both the high jump and the triple jump. She set both a personal record and a Heptagonals record in the high jump with a jump of 1.92 m and earned the Women's Outstanding Heptagonals Performer title.

These and numerous other achievements over the course of the season have set an impressive path for Gyorffy, and gave her great expectations at the NCAA championships.

Heading in to Indianapolis, Gyorffy was seeded third out of 16 competitors in the high jump. She was the only Harvard qualifier to NCAAs. Forrester was seeded in second at 1.93 m, and the reigning champion Aldrich was seeded first at 1.95 m.

Gyorffy had high expectations of at least a repeat performance in the high jump, determined to better her third place performance from last year. Gyorffy did succeed in surpassing last year's performance. Although she did not achieve another personal record in the high jump this season, her height of 1.89 m was good enough for the silver medal.

Aldrich reached a height of 1.92 m, which was not a personal record, but securely won her the event. Aldrich is currently tied for the collegiate record in the high jump. UCLA's Amy Acuff set both the NCAA meet and the Collegiate record in 1995 with a jump of 1.97 m.

Aldrich tied Acuff last February, taking away Acuff's hold on the high jump record. The American record, however, was set by Tisha Walker last February as well with a height of 2.01 m.

Following closely behind Gyorffy was Forrester, barely an inch off of Gyorffy's jump. Georgia Tech's Lynn Houston grabbed fourth, followed by Fiona Daly from Arizona State, and Whitney Evans, a freshman from Washington State. These three rounded out the top six in the event, all clearing six feet in the event.