Who’s Back? Who’s Next? Breaking Down DIII ITF

NEW ORLEANS — Don’t look now, but the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships are less than two months away.

The best of the best in NCAA Division III will converge on the Charles Benson Bear ’39 Recreation and Athletic Center at Grinnell College on March 11 and March 12.

Earlier this week we published the preseason edition of the National Team Computer Rankings. The UW-La Crosse men and the MIT women are preseason favorites according to the computer with UW-Oshkosh and Illinois Wesleyan close behind, respectively.

But what about the hunts for individual titles? After all, those 10 points per event go a long way in deciding which teams take home the big hardware.

Of the 30 combined individual champions from last year, 14 return with hopes of defending their titles (eight men, six women).

Gender	Event	Name	Program	Mark
Men	60 Meters	Winston Lee	Cobleskill	6.73
Men	200 Meters	Kevonte Shaw	UT-Tyler	21.75
Men	400 Meters	Ross Denman	UW-La Crosse	48.66
Women	400 Meters	Allie Bernasconi	Lehman	55.74
Men	800 Meters	Mitchell Black	Tufts	1:51.9
Men	Mile	Paul Escher	St. Olaf	4:10.2
Men	3000 Meters	Jake Campbell	St. Olaf	8:10.5
Women	3000 Meters	Maryann Gong	MIT	9:47.6
Men	60 Hurdles	Luke Campbell	Salisbury	7.93
Women	60 Hurdles	Adriana Wright	Lehman	8.45
Women	High Jump	Gladys Njoku	Stevens	5-7.75
Men	Pole Vault	Luke Winder	North Central (Ill.)	17-4.5
Women	Pole Vault	Cimran Virdi	MIT	13-1.5
Women	Triple Jump	Bria Halama	UW-La Crosse	40-9.5

What does this data tell us?

First and foremost, most of the women’s running events — with exception of the 400, 3000 and 60 hurdles — are up for grabs. The champions in the 60, 200, 800, Mile and 5000 have all moved on. That means big things for student-athletes like Nia Joiner of Illinois Wesleyan (2nd, 60), Meg Heafy of UW-La Crosse (2nd, 200), Hannah Chappell-Dick of Eastern Mennonite (2nd, Mile) and Amy Regan of Stevens (2nd, 5000).

At the same time, it puts a lot of pressure on those male student-athletes who won individual titles in running events last year and are looking to repeat. The only running event not to return its champion was the 5000 after Travis Morrison of North Central (Ill.) exhausted his eligibility.

As wide-open as it is for the women’s running events, it’s equally as free for the men’s field events. North Central (Ill.) sophomore pole vaulter Luke Winder is the only champion making his way back in 2016. New kings will ascend to the throne in the high jump, long jump, triple jump, shot put, weight throw and heptathlon. We’ll see if top returners like Steven Vaquez of Rhode Island College (high jump), Jerry Williams of UW-Stevens Point (triple jump) and Alex Mess of UW-Eau Claire (shot put) rise to the challenge.

Winder should have his work cut out for himself, however, as 10 of the 13 finalists from last year’s NCAA meet are back. The pole vault is one of three events where only three 2015 finalists graduated (high jump and triple jump are the others).

Conversely, those women looking for individual titles in the 60, 200 and 400 have an uphill climb ahead of themselves. In each of those events, six of the eight finalists from last year return.

This season is going to be fun in NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field, so buckle up and enjoy the ride.