UW-Oshkosh Rolls Up Eighth Outdoor National Team Title

Winning two individual event titles on the final day of competition, host University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh won its eighth overall and third NCAA Division III outdoor track and field title since 2004 at J.J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium. The event was held Thursday (May 24) through Saturday (May 26) in Oshkosh, Wis.

Bolstered by sophomore Amanda Donath’s 400-meter title, senior Nadine Pieske’s 200-meter win and junior Terri Schwamb’s championship in the hammer throw, the Titans racked up 57 points, out-distancing pre-meet favorite Calvin College (Mich.) by 12.5 points. City College of New York tallied 43 points for third place, Amherst College (Mass.) amassed 41 and Lincoln University (Pa.) and Loras College (Iowa) each had 32 for fifth-place.

The top-ten teams were seventh-place Wartburg College (Iowa) with 31 points, eighth-place State University of New York-Cortland with 30 and ninth-place Augustana College (Ill.), the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and Williams College (Mass.) with 25. A total of 74 schools placed at this year’s meet.

In varying conditions throughout the three-day championship, J.J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium had 13 records broken. Highlighting the championship was Amherst College's Shauneen Garrahan who won the 3,000-meter steeplechase, the 5,000-meter run and the 10,000-meter run. Garrahan broke the facility record in all three events, including setting a new NCAA Division III championship record in the 3,000-steeplechase in a time of 10:13.33.

Following Garrahan's time of 10:13.33 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase was Janet Dobyns from Luther College (Iowa) (10:20.97) and Caitlin Bradley from Dickinson College (Pa.) (10:21.04).

Willamette University's (Ore.) Sarah Zerman led for most of the 5,000-meter race before Garrahan took the lead with 50-meters left to finish in a time of 16:49.54. Zerman took second in a time of 16:51.18 and Jennifer Adams from Keene State University (N.H.) captured third in a time of 16:58.66.

Garrahan dominated the 10,000-meter run field in a time of 34:48.19. Toni Wiszowaty from State University of New York-Plattsburgh took second-place in a time of 34:59.00 and Katie Wieferich from The College of Wooster (Ohio) finished third in a time of 35:08.16.

Fran Dorr of State University of New York-Cortland was the lone freshman women's event winner in the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 59.50. Sarah Wittingen of Calvin College and Jen Dias of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Pa.) followed in second (59.96) and third place (1:01.24). Dorr's win was the 14th straight by a different institute in the 400-meter hurdles.

In one of the most exciting races of the meet, University of Wisconsin-Platteville's Marcia Taddy nipped North Central College's (Ill.) Amber Druien at the tape for the win in the 1,500-meter run. Trailing by five-meters with 50-meters left, Taddy stormed up behind Druien and toppled over the finish line for a .01 second victory in a time of 4:27.04. UW-Platteville's Emma Dreis followed closely in a time of 4:27.55 for third place.

In the 800-meter race, Heidi Porter of Wartburg College out-kicked Druien to take home the championship in a time of 2:09.49. Druien clocked a time of 2:10.47 and Sarah Miller of Keene State College finished in third-place in a time of 2:10.65.

In the sprints, Lincoln University (Pa.) enjoyed a first and third-place result in the 100-meter dash as Shonda Jackson took top honors in a time of 12.28 and Ashley Parker finished in a time of 12.46. Mechelle Barnwell of City College of New York took second-place in a time of 12.43.

Jackson added a second-place result in the 200-meter dash as she ran to a time of 24,94, trailing Pieske's winning time of 24.72. Chizoba Ezeigwe of Wheaton College (Mass.) settled for a third-place showing in a time of 25.02.

Donath's victory in the 400-meter dash was almost as dramatic as Taddy's triumph in the 1,500-meter run. Donath trailed Rachel Anderson from Illinois Wesleyan University with 20-meters to go before she out-powered the returning champion at the finish line. Donath finished in a time of 54.68, Anderson in a time of 54.80 and Pieske of UW-Oshkosh finished third in a time of 55.08.

In the 100-meter hurdles, State University of New York-Cortland's Christina Acquaviva got out to a fast start and never was threatened as she captured the title in a time of 14.43. Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Amy Magnuson captured second-place in a time of 14.64 and Haverford College's (Pa.) Aislinn Sowash took third in a time of 14.73.

The quartet of Barnwell, Jodyann Raymond, Sharnalle Steward and Alecia Watson from the City College of New York won their second consecutive 400-meter relay national title with a time of 46.32 to outdistance Roanoke College (Va.) (46.67) and Texas Lutheran University (47.23). All four members were members of the winning team in 2006.

In the 1,600-meter relay, Wartburg College's foursome of Hannah Baker, Bridget Burns, Chelsey Jacobs and Amy Koester led for the last two laps clocking in a winning time of 3:44.20. Williams College (Mass.) finished second in a time of 3:44.25 and UW-Oshkosh third in a time of 3:46.96.

Watson of City College of New York stayed busy in the field events as she won the triple jump with a leap of 39-10 3/4 and took second in the long jump with a mark of 19-0. Caroline Doctor of Williams College flew to a mark of 39-10 and Meghan Voiland of Augustana College took third with a distance of 39-8 to round out the top three-places in the triple jump.

Winning the national title in the long jump was Natalie Calderon of the University of Redlands (Calif.) with a leap of 19-6. Katie Fondow of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse took third with a mark of 18-8.

Voiland added to her trophy case by winning the pole vault with a height of 12-10 1/4. Megan Rossi of North Central College (Ill.) and Ashley Johnson of Wilmington College (Ohio) took second and third respectively with identical marks of 12-6 1/2 with Rossi taking second on a tie-breaker.

Competing in adverse conditions the first day and ideal weather the second, the heptathlon had two competitors score over 5,000 points. Although not a new NCAA Division III championship record due to wind aided events, Acquaviva still scored the highest total ever at the meet with 5,189 points. Amy Reed of Messiah College tallied 5,142 points and Jillian Crandall of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls amassed 4,989.

Crandall, Lauren Colyn of Calvin College and Amanda Haney of State University of New York-Geneseo all hit the 5-7 mark in the high jump competition, but it was Crandall that took the title on a tie-breaker with Colyn taking second.

Although not as dominating as last year, UW-Oshkosh still managed to accumulate 24 points in the throwing events. Besides Schwamb's winning mark of 198-0 in the hammer throw, Rebecca Masephol took third in the discus with a toss of 176-11 and Kayla Sharpee captured second in the shot put with a heave of 45-2 1/4.

Dana Klemm of Loras College (Iowa) won the shot put with a launch of 47-6 1/2 and took second in the hammer throw with a fling of 181-4. Krista Hasselquist of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls took third in the shot put with a mark of 45-2 1/4.

The discus competition featured a national championship by University of St. Thomas' (Minn.) Shara Guidry with a heave of 145-11. Ellen Thys continued Loras College's charge in the throwing events by taking second-place with a toss of 145-3 followed by Marissa Banks of Augustana College with a heave of 142-5.

Alicia Whisner of Central College (Iowa) stuck a national championship in the javelin when she floated a mark of 153-9. Lisa Brown of Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) took second with a fling of 152-3 and Brittni Stewart of Colby-Sawyer College (N.H.) finished third with a mark of 149-9.