OSHKOSH, Wis. – Amherst College (Mass.) pieced together three top seven individual finishes in the 10,000-meter run to take the women’s team point lead after day one of the 2007 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championship. The Lord Jeffs gained the event title from senior Shauneen Garrahan in 34:48.19, while junior Heather Wilson was sixth and sophomore Elise Tropiano was seventh.

Garrahan’s title marked the third time since 2004 that an Amherst College athlete stood atop the awards stand at nationals in the 10,000-meter run. Amherst College's 15-point total stood five better than a tie for second between the University of St. Thomas (Minn.), Calvin College (Mich.), the University of Redlands (Calif.) and Loras College (Iowa).

Big field event finishes guided the University of St. Thomas, Loras College, and the University of Redlands into second. Calvin College, among the pre-meet team favorites, received a fourth-place effort in the discus, a fifth-place ending in the 10,000-meter run, and an eighth-place finish in the long jump.

Junior Shara Guidry’s 145-11 winning toss in the discus gave the Tommies their 10 points. Loras College equaled that mark with a runner-up effort from Ellen Thys and a seventh-place finish from Dana Klemm in the discus. The University of Redlands’ Natalie Calderon nipped Alecia Watson of the City College of New York by six inches for the win in the long jump, ending at 19-6 inches compared to Watson’s 19-0 jump.

Along preliminary event lines, State University of New York-Cortland’s Christina Acquaviva holds the lead through four events in the heptathlon with 3,181 points. The 2006 All-American leads Hope College’s (Mich.) Lindsay Lange by 33 points going into Friday’s final day of competition. Jillian Crandell of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls (3,094) and Catherine Chappell of Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.) (3,088) are also within the top four. Senior Jen Dias of Rensselear Polytechnic Institute (N.Y.) turned in a NCAA Division III best time of 60.55 seconds in the 400-meter hurdle preliminaries, while J.J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium records fell in the 400-meter relay prelims as Lincoln University (Pa.) clocked a 46.55, the 10,000-meter run and the prelims of the 400-meter hurdles.

Day two action begins at 2 p.m. in the women’s meet with the resumption of the heptathlon competition.