Messiah University Athletics

Women’s Track and Field
1983 and 1984
 
The women’s 1600-meter relay team—Cecelia Gebhart Clippinger ’86, Sonja Hutchins Gatton ’85, Sonita Robinson Johnson ’84, and Lynn Searer VanHouwe ’85 – set a standard that has yet to be matched by any Messiah relay team. Twice, the women were named NCAA All-Americans based on their finishes at the NCAA Division III national championships. In 1983, the team finished sixth, and the following year, they took third place at the national event, missing out on winning the national title by just three-tenths of a second. In addition, all four qualified for NCAA national championship competition on their own—Clippinger in the 800-meter run; Gatton in the 400-meter dash; Johnson in the 400-meter dash; and VanHouwe in the 100-meter dash.