Meet Recap: 2022 NCAA DIII Outdoor T&F Championships

Champions were crowned at the 2022 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio!

From The USTFCCCA InfoZone: National Championships Central

UW-Eau Claire‘s men captured its second outdoor national title in the past three Championships, while Loras became the fifth women’s program in NCAA DIII history to top the podium three consecutive times.

There were a number of divisional records and meet records set over the three-day meet, which capped an incredible season by NCAA DIII athletes.

Keep reading to find out what happened in the Buckeye State.

Men’s Recap

It’s only fitting that a program known as MultiU in NCAA DIII almost scores in ten events to win the national title.

That’s what UW-Eau Claire did this past weekend, as it snared at least four points in nine different events on its way to a dominant victory. The Blugolds scored 73 points, the most by a men’s team champion since UW-La Crosse stockpiled 99 in 2007.

UW-Eau Claire started early with 14 points on Day 1, headlined by Marcus Weaver’s javelin title. Remember how Weaver pulled off the first decathlon-javelin double in NCAA DIII history last year? Well, he did it again. Weaver stormed to victory in the decathlon, as he and his teammates went 1-3-4 with Abrhm Schroedl and Mitch Stegeman in third and fourth, respectively.

Even though it seemed like a Blugold title was a formality on Day 3, Schroedl cemented that fact home when he finished runner-up in the pole vault on the final day of the Championships.

John Carroll finished a distant runner-up with 48 points, but got strong performances by both Jamie Dailey and Alex Phillip. They combined to score 29 points in the 5000 meters and 10,000 meters, as Phillip and Dailey went 1-2 in the 10,000, followed by a victory by Dailey and an eighth-place finish by Phillip in the 5000.

Kenneth Wei made history for MIT, as he became the first male athlete in NCAA DIII history to win the 110-meter hurdles and the long jump at the same Championships. Wei didn’t just win the long jump: he soared to a meet record 7.88m (25-10¼) on his final attempt of the competition and moved up to No. 3 in NCAA DIII history in the process.

Women’s Recap

It came down to the 4×400 relay.

What more could you ask for out of a national championship meet?

Loras led through 19 events, but UW-La Crosse surged ahead thanks to nine points from its athletes in the triple jump. That gave the Eagles a two-point lead over the Duhawks, setting up the climatic finish. And based on pre-meet form charts, Loras had the stronger 4×400 relay squad – ranked second nationally coming into the meet – but anything could happen when adrenaline is pumping and nerves are running high.

Through two legs of the relay, Loras sat second with UW-La Crosse five spots behind. Then, after three legs, the Duhawks handed the baton off second once again, while the Eagles made up some ground to fifth. That would be as close as UW-La Crosse – or anybody else, for that matter – got to Loras, as Alyssa Pfadenhauer dropped a 53.18 anchor to send the Duhawks to their third consecutive national title.

It turned out to be a four-point win for Loras, as it scored 55 points, compared to UW-La Crosse’s 51. Johns Hopkins and Washington (Mo.) tied for third with 38 points, while Gustavus Adolphus took fifth with 25.

The Duhawks amassed their points across eight different events, winning titles in both relays. Kassie Parker gave Loras 16 points thanks to a pair of runner-up finishes in the 5000 meters and 10,000 meters and Grace Alley added another 11 points to the pot with runner-up honors in the high jump and a sixth-place finish in the heptathlon, among other efforts.

Of the top-5 teams, UW-La Crosse, Johns Hopkins and Gustavus Adolphus had event champions: the Eagles saw Skye Digman take top honors in the discus throw; Victoria Kadiri swept the horizontal jumps; and Birgen Nelson won the 100-meter hurdles in an all-time, all-conditions NCAA DIII best of 13.41 and finished runner-up in the 400H to lead the Gusties.