Division III Outdoor National Athlete Awards Announced

Sean Bernstein, Oneonta State

Bernstein, a senior from Baldwinsville, New York, claimed two total titles at the Division III Outdoor Championships at 200 meters and as a member of the 4×100 relay, in addition to finishing runner-up at 100 meters. He won at 200 meters in 20.81 to defend his title from 2012.

He was named the SUNYAC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year after winning three events at the conference championships at 100 and 200 meters and in the 4×100 relay. In 12 total finals between both 100 and 200 meters, he has lost just once during the 2013 outdoor season — that coming by less than a hundredth of a second in the NCAA Championships 100 — and he is undefeated in five finals at 200 meters.

Christy Cazzola, UW-Oshkosh

Cazzola, a junior from Kaukauna, Wis., became just the fourth woman in Division III history to win three individual titles at one NCAA DIII Outdoor Championships meet, claiming titles at 800, 1500 and 5000 meters all within three hours of one another on Saturday — the first to accomplish that triple in one meet.

She won at 1500 meters in 4:17.22, the No. 2 time in division history, to edge out St. Thomas (Minn.)’s Taylor Berg with the Division’s all-time third-fastest time at 4:18.10. She then won at 800 meters in 2:05.93 — just shy of her No. 2 all-time mark in the event — to beat out Tara Clemens’ 2:06.79 — just shy of her own No. 4 all-time mark. She capped the day off with a come-from-behind victory at 5000 meters in the final 400 meters of the race to win in 16:31.17.

Her regular season also included WIAC titles at 800, 1500 and 5000 meters, as well as the 4×800. Prior to her 1500 performance at NCAAs, she had also run a 4:18.22 at the Mt. SAC Relays for a then-No. 2 time in DIII history.

Tim VanLiew, Rutgers-Camden

VanLiew, a senior from Deptford, N.J., became the all-time farthest Division III javelin thrower (under the current javelin design) with a mark of 247-10 (75.55m) en route to an NCAA DIII title defense by more than 33 feet. He surpassed by more than five feet the previous record of 242-5 (73.90m) set in 1995 by Kris Theriault of Fitchburg State, and his is the farthest throw by a DIII student-athlete since 2000 by nearly 12 feet. In addition to his winning throw, he recorded three other throws that would have placed him among the all-time DIII top ten, including two farther than 70 meters.

Earlier in the regular season VanLiew had worked his way up to No. 8 in DIII history with a mark of 226-9 (69.11m) with a title at the NJAC Championships. As of publication his NCAA-winning throw catapulted him up to No. 6 among all collegians in the javelin for 2013. He also finished runner-up at the IC4A Championships among DI and DII with a mark of 224-0 (68.27m).

Melissa Norville, Illinois College

Norville, a senior from Batavia, Ill., became the fifth woman in Division III history to win three individual titles in one NCAA DIII Outdoor Championships after claiming the long jump, triple jump and 100 hurdles titles, and is the first in Division history to complete that trio of titles. Won the long jump title with a mark of 20-5w (6.22m, +4.1m/s) and claimed the triple jump at 41-11¼w (12.78m, +2.6m/s).

She was named Midwest Conference Female Athlete of the Year for the third consecutive season after posting Division III-leading marks in the long jump at 20-4¼ (6.20m) and the triple jump at 41-11½ (12.79m. She claimed Midwest Conference titles in each of the aforementioned events. She finished third at the Drake Relays in the long jump and fifth in the triple jump.

Past Winners

National Men’s Track Athlete of the Year

National Women’s Track Athlete of the Year

National Men’s Field Athlete of the Year

National Women’s Field Athlete of the Year