2022 NCAA III Championships Website

Geneva, Ohio - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's track & field team is tied for seventh-place after the first day of action Thursday at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships at SPIRE Institute. The Eagles have 9.0 team points. 

Rowan University (N.J.) leads with 19.0 points with John Carroll University (Ohio) second with 18.0 and UW-Eau Claire third with 14.0. UW-Platteville is fourth (11.0) while Carroll University (Wis.) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology are tied for fifth (10.0). Williams College (Mass.) is tied for seventh (9.0) with UWL while Bethel University (Minn.) is ninth (8.0). UW-Stout and Colby College (Maine) are tied for 10th (6.0). 

A total of 24 teams scored points on the first day of the three-day meet. 

UWL earned a pair of NCAA III All-America honors on Thursday as the Eagles' Sam Blaskowski placed third (24-2 1/4) in the long jump and Ethan Gregg finished sixth (30:15.44) in the 10,000-meter run. It is Blaskowski's first career NCAA III Outdoor All-America honor and second for Gregg, who placed eighth in the 10,000-meter run in 2021. 

In Thursday's preliminary action on the track, Blaskowski advanced to the 200-meter dash final with the fourth-fastest qualifying time of 20.80. The time of 20.80 also ties Blaskowski's fastest of the season. 

The Eagles' Michael Madoch qualified for Saturday's 1,500-meter run final with a preliminary time of 3:50.44 on Thursday.
 

Jordan Montgomery, Blaskowski, Justin Kotarak and Kaleb Schuster advanced to the 4x100-meter relay final with a time of 40.69. 

In other preliminaries, Adam Loenser (9:27.58) failed to advance in the 3,000-meter steeplechase while UWL's 4x400-meter relay of Payton Flood, Addison Hill, Blaskowski and Caden Pearce did not finish. 

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). UWL won the 2017 outdoor title in Geneva.  

Action continues Friday, May 27 starts at 9:30 a.m. in Geneva, Ohio.