DELAWARE, Ohio – For the third-consecutive year, the Wartburg College Knights captured the women's championship at the NCAA Division III track & field championship meet. Wartburg scored 65 points over the course of three days, edging Wisconsin-Oshkosh by two points on Saturday at Selby Stadium and the George Gauthier Track on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University.
This year's title marks the fifth for the Knights and their fourth in the last six years.
Wartburg senior Libbey Schubert played a vital part in the Knights' third-straight national championship. Schubert began her day with a third-place performance in the 100-meter dash (:11.95). Later in the day, she won her first national title with a time of :23.91 in the 200-meter dash. Schubert also ran the anchor leg of the 4x400 relay team with senior Tashina McAllister, junior Kayla Kregel and senior Kaly Adkins. When Schubert took the baton, the Knights were in third place. The senior's split time of 53.16 helped Wartburg post a runner-up finish in the relay, which secured the squad's third-consecutive NCAA outdoor title.
Wartburg had four other top-three performances on Saturday. Schubert, McAllister, senior Sarah Borass and sophomore Erica Dynes took third in the 4x100 relay with a time of :46.79. McAllister was runner-up in the 400 hurdles (:59.33) and third in the 100 hurdles (:14.22), while Haddie Vawter placed third in the 1500-meter run (4:35.55).
Wisconsin-Whitewater finished third in the team standings with 44.5 points, while Wisconsin-La Crosse scored 38 points to finish fourth and St. Thomas (Minn.) was fifth with 27 points.
Another big story on Saturday took place in the 1500-meter event where Christy Cazzola of Wisconsin-Oshkosh became the fifth female athlete in Division III outdoor track & field history to win four national titles in one event. Cazzola won the 1500 with a time of 4:32.51. The Wisconsin-Oshkosh senior joins Nebraska Wesleyan's Kim Oden (high jump – 1989-92), Brandeis' Elena Zhelezov (triple jump – 1992-95), McMurry's Darcell Edwards (triple jump – 2001-04) and Wheaton (Mass.)'s Amber James (400 dash – 2001-04) as the only four-time single-event outdoor national champions. Second place in the 1500 went to Luther sophomore Tricia Serres with a time of 4:34.89.
An hour and 45 minutes after her 1500-meter title, Cazzola returned to the track to capture the 800-meter crown with a meet-record performance of 2:05.23. Roughly an hour later, Cazzola completed her collegiate career with her third national championship of the meet and the eighth of her career. The Wisconsin-Oshkosh standout posted a stadium-record-time of 16:29.96 in the 5,000-meter run. Cal Lutheran junior Melissa Skiba was runner-up with a time of 16:32.99, while Cara DeAngelis of Ohio Wesleyan took third (16:35.11).
Junior Kylee Verhasselt finished second to Cazzola in the 800 with a time of 2:07.05, while Johns Hopkins senior Maggie Shelton took third (2:08.31).
Wisconsin-La Crosse swept the relay events for the second-consecutive year. Junior Jaime Ludwigson, senior Jenna Halvorson, junior Claire Elliott and sophomore Meg Heafy won the 4x100 title with a stadium-record-time of 46.08. In the 4x400, Halvorson, sophomore Claire Gordee, junior Shannon Klein and Elliott (3:42.24) edged out Wartburg for the national championship by 51 hundredths of a second.
St. Thomas was second in the 4x100 (:46.67) with juniors Erika Tripp and Angela Tripp, and seniors Christina Rozeske and Mallory Burnham. Third place in the 4x400 relay went to the Wisconsin-Eau Claire team of sophomores Jessie Reineck and Jess Rupnow, freshman Sarah Glidden and junior Steph Rouse (3:44.28).
In addition to a runner-up performance as a member of the 4x100 relay, Burnham also captured a national title in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of :14.02. Kenyon senior Sierra DeLeon placed second in the event (:14.12).
In one of the closest races of the day, Wisconsin-Eau Claire junior Carly Fehler won the 100-meter dash (:11.921) title by three thousandths of a second over Burnham. Schubert took third, one hundredth of a second ahead of Central sophomore Abigail Davis (:11.96). Davis was also second in the 200 dash (:24.52), trailing only Schubert in the event.
Third place in the 200 went to Wisconsin-Whitewater junior Lexie Sondgeroth (:24.57), who captured the 400-meter title earlier in the day. Sondgeroth won her national championship with a time of :53.60. Wheaton (Mass.) senior Ashante Little was runner-up with a time of :54.17, while Massachusetts-Boston sophomore Hulerie McGuffie placed third (:54.24).
Tufts senior Jana Hieber won the 400-meter hurdles with a stadium-record-time of :58.63. McAllister was second, while Little placed third (:59.38) after setting the Division III Championship Meet record in the prelims (:58.51).
Washington (Mo.) junior Lucy Cheadle kicked off Saturday's festivities by winning the 3000-meter steeplechase in a stadium-record time of 10:20.06. The Bears' Anna Etherington also won the pole vault title on Thursday. Heidelberg senior Sophie Goobic finished second 3,000 steeplechase (10:27.36), while St. Lawrence sophomore Amy Cymerman was third (10:29.93).
In the field events, Kao Sutton captured Carleton's second national title of the meet with a mark of 155-2 in the discus, while Carroll junior Lindsey Thomas was second (154-9). Wisconsin-Oshkosh senior Breanna Strupp placed third with a toss of 152-5. Carleton's other national championship came on Friday when Amelia Campbell won the heptathlon.
Ramapo junior Alexis Appezzato won the javelin with a mark of 157-4. Sophomore Allie Hadley of Cal Lutheran was second with a toss of 152-6, while Dickinson freshman Kayla Zoschg placed third (148-0).
In the final event for the women, St. Lawrence junior Divya Biswal took home the triple jump crown with a leap of 40-11. Sophomore Bria Halama of Wisconsin-La Crosse finished second with a mark of 40-2¾, while Concordia-Moorhead senior Hilary Thompson rounded out the top three (40-¾).
Final ResultsNCAA championships page
