MEET PREVIEW: 2018 NCAA DIII Outdoor T&F Championships

Repeat individual champions aren’t as common at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships as one would think.

There will only be eight men and eight women returning to NCAAs this year to defend 18 titles they won last year in Geneva, Ohio. That’s less than 50 percent of all of the individual champions from 2017.

QUICK LINKS: National Championships Central | Meet Home
NATIONAL TEAM RANKINGS: Men | Women

New individual champions will be crowned in the following events: Men’s 400, Men’s 800, Men’s and Women’s 5000, Men’s 10,000, Men’s and Women’s 110/100 Hurdles, Women’s 400 Hurdles, Men’s and Women’s Steeplechase, Women’s Pole Vault, Men’s and Women’s Long Jump, Women’s Triple Jump, Men’s Shot Put, Men’s and Women’s Discus Throw, Men’s and Women’s Hammer Throw and the Decathlon.

Let’s take a closer look at nine of those 16 athletes who did win national titles last year and find out what another title could mean to their place in NCAA DIII history.

The 2018 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships take place this weekend in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Jamal Watkins of Birmingham-Southern could become the first man to repeat as 100-meter champion since Springfield’s Stephen Headley did so in 2009 and 2010. Watkins will have his work cut out for himself as he enters the meet ranked eighth in the nation.

Justin Lewis of Stockton could become the first man to repeat as high jump champion since Wheaton (Ma.)’s Dan Olson won three in a row from 2002 to 2004. In fact, Lewis could be just the fourth man in NCAA DIII history to repeat in that event with a win this weekend.

Luke Winder of North Central (Ill.) has won each of the past three individual titles in the pole vault and could etch his name deeper into the NCAA DIII record book with another victory. He could become just the sixth man in NCAA DIII history to win four titles in a single individual event, joining Ashland’s Barry King (800), Mount Union’s Shawn Watson, Lincoln (Pa.)’s Chaz Clemons (100), Willamette’s Nick Symmonds (800) and Salisbury’s Luke Campbell (110 hurdles).

Luther Newburn of Benedictine (Ill.) made a name for himself last year in the triple jump when he bounded 15.98m (52-5¼) for the farthest winning mark since 1990. This year he could become the first man to repeat as champion since Centre’s Chrys Jones in 2009 and 2010.

Wadeline Jonathas of UMass Boston has left her mark on the NCAA DIII record book in two short years at the collegiate level as she holds all-time bests in the 100, 200 and 400. If Jonathas successfully completes the 200-400 double again this weekend (Jonathas won’t run the 100), she’ll become the first woman to do so since Wheaton (Ma.)’s Amber James from 2002 to 2004.

Emily Richards of Ohio Northern is the two-time defending champion in the 800 and recent victor of the 1500. If Richards wins the 800, she’d become just the second woman in NCAA DIII history to win three 800-meter titles in her career (UW-Oshkosh’s Liz Woodworth is the other).

Taryn Cordani of Ithaca clocked the fastest winning time in the 10,000 since Amherst’s Carter Hamill in 2005. Speaking of Hamill, Cordani could become the first woman to repeat as champ in the event since Hamill 13 years ago.

Tanasha Atwater won Dubuque’s first individual title in program history last year when she threw the shot farther than anybody else. A second victory would put Atwater in exclusive company. Only four other women have repeat as champions in the shot put.

Kylee Bartlett of Rochester dazzled in the heptathlon last year. Bartlett won the Warriors’ first title in the multi since 1985 (Renee Schmitt). If Bartlett repeats this weekend, she would become the first woman in 18 years to do so (Wheaton (Ill.)’s Heather Pancake in 1999 and 2000).