Greensboro, N.C. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's track & field team is tied for seventh after the first day of action Thursday at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships at Irwin Belk Track at North Carolina A&T State University.  The Eagles have 8.0 team points. 

UW-Oshkosh leads with 13.0 team points while Brockport State University (N.Y.), UW-Stout, Carroll University (Wis.) and Johns Hopkins University (Md.) are tied for second with 10.0.  UW-Platteville is sixth (9.0) while UWL, Benedictine University (Ill.), Ithaca College (N.Y.), St. John's University (Minn.) and Carleton College (Minn.) are tied for seventh (8.0).

A total of 25 teams scored points on the first day of the three-day meet. 
 

UWL's Samuel Sadowski, Logan Larson and Ethan Gregg each earned their first career NCAA Division III All-America honor on Thursday.  Sadowski placed fourth (23-6) in the long jump while Larson was seventh (15-11) in the pole vault.  On the track, Gregg finished eighth (30:48.86) in the 10,000-meter run to earn All-America accolades. 

In preliminary action on the track Thursday, the Eagles' Seth Holden, Troy De Bruin, Spencer Reichart and Josh Koenecke set a school record in the 4x100-meter relay with a time of 40.18.  UWL recorded Thursday's fastest-qualifying time in advancing to Saturday's final.  The relay broke the record of 40.28 set by Ross Denman, Alex Koenen, Zach Rothering and Joe Koenecke in 2015. 

The Eagles' 4x400-meter relay of Jake Sullivan, Addison Hill, Payton Flood and Caden Pearce also advanced to Saturday's championship final with a time of 3:12.96 in Thursday's preliminaries.

Individually, Holden advanced to Saturday's 200-meter dash final after finishing with the fourth-fastest qualifying time of 21.43.  De Bruin failed to advance with a time of 21.58 in Thursday's preliminaries. 

Michael Madoch advanced to Saturday's final in the 1,500-meter run after finishing with a time of 3:51.49 in Thursday's preliminaries. 

In other action on Thursday, Tommy Knoche failed to clear a height in the pole vault. 
 

UWL has won an NCAA Division III record 15 outdoor titles in school history.  The Eagles have won outdoor national championships in 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2017.  UWL also has an NCAA Division III record 18 indoor titles, sweeping the indoor and outdoor titles on 12 occasions (1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2013, 2017).

The Eagles have recorded 30 top-10 finishes, including 27 in the top-four, at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships.  

Action continues Friday, May 28 starting at 9 a.m. (Central).