Columbus, Ohio - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's track & field squad opened competition at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships Thursday night at Selby Field & George Gauthier Track.  The Eagles' Leeanne Nowicki is in 17th-place after the first day of the heptathlon, scoring 2,634 points.  UW-L did not score a point.

Williams College leads the women's division with 16.0 points while Methodist is second with 10.  Illinois College and St. Lawrence are tied for third with 8.0 points.  Ithaca College is fifth with 6.0.

UW-L's 4x100-meter relay of Kailey Charlton, Caitlin Wippermann, Maggie May and Laurel Beck advanced to the finals Saturday with a qualifying time of 47.48 Thursday.

The Eagles' 4x400-meter relay of Beck, Rebecca Scheuermann, Jenna Halvorson and Wippermann failed to advance to the finals after finishing at 3:52.44 Thursday.

In the 200-meter dash preliminaries, Charlton finished 11th (25.19) and Wipperman 21st (25.76), but failed to advance to the finals.

Action continues Friday.