Calvin College (Mich.), a top-five finisher in 2006, is among the favorites to capture the team title at the NCAA Division III Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship, which will be held May 24-26 at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh's J.J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium.
Calvin College, which came within striking distance of winning national titles in 2004 and 2005, has qualified a meet-high 13 athletes for this year's meet. Wartburg College (Iowa) will have 10 competitors in the meet, while Texas Lutheran University, Willamette College (Ore.) and defending champion University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh will have eight each. A myriad of competing schools have seven and six entrants apiece.
In 2005, Calvin College tied the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh for second place. The two schools finished one point behind Wartburg College in the closest team race ever. In 2004, Calvin College also finished second, trailing the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 57-54.33, in the team standings.
The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh scored 52 points, including 28 by Robyn Jarocki, to win the team title at last year's championships, held in Lisle, Ill. The NCAA Division III outdoor title was the seventh for the Titans, following victories in 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 2004, breaking it out of a tie for the most outdoor team titles with Christopher Newport of Virginia, which has claimed six women’s championships. Williams College (Mass.) finished second to the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh with 42 points, while City College of New York and State University of New York-Oneonta both placed third with 41. Calvin College finished fifth with 40 points.
Calvin College is anchored by junior sprint standout Sarah Wittingen. Wittingen, the 2007 United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s Great Lakes Region Track Athlete of the Year, was named the MIAA's Most Outstanding Runner for the second year in a row. She will compete in the 400-meter hurdles, where she is the nation's top seed, and in the 100-meter hurdles, where she is seeded third. She will also run on Calvin's 1,600-meter relay, which is seeded second.
Wartburg enters the weekend with three events, the 800 meters, the 400 meters, and the 1,600-meter relay, having qualifiers with the fastest times in the nation. Senior Heidi Porter, the 2007 United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s Central Region Track indoor and outdoor Track Athlete of the Year, has set and re-set the school record in the 800 three times this season. Freshman Hannah Baker broke the school record in the 400 at the Iowa Conference Championships, while the 1,600-meter relay team, which features four-time All-American Bridget Burns and two-time All-American Amy Koester, ended fourth in a multi-division field at the 98th Drake Relays.
Texas Lutheran’s Staci Jackson and Natalie Wood swept the track and field South Region Athlete of the Year awards for the USTFCCCA. Jackson won American Southwest Conference titles in the 200, 400, 400-meter relay and 1,600-meter relay. The junior from Dallas is ranked fifth nationally in the 400 (56.04) and sixth in the 200 (24.79). She holds Texas Lutheran school records in four events. Wood scored a school-record 4,418 points in the heptathlon this spring, setting personal bests in six of the seven events to qualify for nationals. The senior won the 100 and 400 hurdles at the American Southwest Conference Championships.
Williamette’s Sarah Zerzan was tabbed the West Region’s Track Athlete of the Year. is the top-seeded entrant in the 5,000 meters (16:28.54) this weekend. She also ranks fifth on the national Division III list in the 1,500 (4:31.52), but will not contest that event at nationals. Zerzan, a junior, won the NCAA Division III cross country title last fall.
Defending champion UW-Oshkosh sends eight athletes to this weekend's meet, including multiple-event performers Amanda Donath, Nicole Pelischek, and Nadine Pieske. All three individuals will compete on the Titans' 400-meter and 1,600-meter relay teams, with Donath and Pieske also participating in the 200-meter dash and 400-meter run.
Several athletes will seek repeat national championship efforts going into the weekend. A list of returning winners from the 2006 meet include: Shonda Jackson (Lincoln), 100; Rachel Anderson (Illinois Wesleyan), 400; Amber Druien (North Central, Ill.) 800 and 1,500; Alecia Watson (City College of New York), Long Jump; Ashley Johnson (Wilmington, Ohio), Pole Vault; and Lisa Brown (Gustavus Adolphus), Javelin.
In the 400-meter relay, the City College of New York’s squad, which set a meet record with a 45.98-second sprint last season, returns intact, with Michelle Barnwell, Jodyann Raymond, Sharnalee Steward and Alecia Watson.
Lincoln’s winning 1,600-meter relay squad from a season ago has two members returning, Yolonda Sabb and Shari Richardson, in what will be the swan song for Lincoln as an NCAA Division III program. The perennial power Lions will make the switch to Division II in 2007-08. Lincoln has won three women’s team titles in 1993, 1999, and 2000.
Action begins at noon Thursday, May 24. The top-eight finishers in each event earn NCAA III All-America honors.
