2022 NCAA Division III Championships Website

Geneva, Ohio - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's track & field team is second-place after the first day of action Thursday at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships at SPIRE Institute. The Eagles have recorded 12 team points. 

Johns Hopkins University (Md.) leads with 16 points with Carroll University (Wis.) following behind UWL in third with 11 points. Westminster College (Pa.), Wellesley College (Mass.) and Pacific Lutheran University (Wash.) are tied in fourth with 10 points. Tied for seventh place with eight points is UW-Whitewater, George Fox University (Ore.), Loras College (Iowa) and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Mass.).  A total of 36 teams scored points on the first day of the three-day meet. 

UWL's Skye Digman became the third thrower in school history to win the NCAA III discus title on Thursday with a throw of 157-7. Digman joins Cindy Lensmire (1983, 1984) and Patti Franckowiak (1999) to win the national discus title. The mark of 157-7 is the second longest throw in school history as Lensmire set the school record in 1983 with a distance of 169-6.

The top finish gives Digman her fifth career NCAA Division III Outdoor All-America honor. She placed seventh in the shot put in 2019 and earned three honors in 2021, finishing second in the hammer throw, third in the shot put and seventh in the discus throw. Digman won the indoor shot put at the 2022 national championships.

Digman will compete in the hammer throw and shot put at this year's championships.

Her title on Thursday marks UWL's 28th individual national championship in school history, which ranks third in NCAA Division III history. UW-Oshkosh leads with 50 titles and Christopher Newport University (Va.) is second with 29.
 
Joining Digman in earning All-America honors on Thursday was Hannah Zenkovich who placed seventh in the long jump with a mark of 18-7. It is her second career outdoor All-America award. Zenkovich placed third in the heptathlon last season. 

After four events in Thursday's heptathlon, Zenkovich is in second-place with 3,070 points while UWL's Skylar White sits in 19th with 2,680 points. Kennady Gibbins of the University of Mount Union (Ohio) leads with 3,260 points. Athletes competed in the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200-meter dash on Thursday.  

Action will conclude on Friday, May 27 with the long jump, javelin throw and 800-meter run.  Zenkovich captured the NCAA Division III Indoor pentathlon title at this year's championships with a school record 3,774 points. White also earned All-America accolades with an eighth-place finish at this year's indoor championships in the pentathlon. 

UWL's Abby Meidl placed 12th in the pole vault on Thursday with a mark of 12-1 1/4. 
 

In Thursday's preliminary action on the track, Maddie Hannan advanced to Saturday's 1,500-meter run finals with a qualifying time of 4:33.67. In the 400-meter Hurdles, Emma Lawrence finished with the second fastest qualifying time (1:00.16) and advanced to Saturday's finals. Also qualifying to Saturday's finals was Emma Malooly in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:49.68. 

The 4x100-meter relay of Jessica Stelzner, Carley Elmhorst, Lawrence and Emily Dawidowich finished sixth (46.73) in qualifying and advancing to Saturday's finals. The Eagles last qualifiers of day one was the 4x400-meter relay of Amber Johnson, Katie Banie, Zenkovich and Mara Schroeder. The relay team qualified for Saturday's finals with a time of 3:46.40. 

Also competing for the Eagles in Thursday's preliminaries, but not qualifying for the finals included Melanie Kunze (1:02.90) and Brooke McDowell (1:03.74) in the 400-meter hurdles and Emily Dawidowich in the 200-meter dash (24.68).

UWL placed second at the 2021 NCAA III Outdoor Championships after the 2020 meet was canceled due to the COVID-19 public health threat. The Eagles earned 17 All-America honors at last year's national meet as UWL recorded its best finish at the outdoor national championships since placing second in 2017. UWL won the 2015 NCAA III Outdoor Championship in Canton, New York, its first outdoor national crown since 1984.  The Eagles also claimed the NCAA III outdoor crown in 1983 and captured the Association of Intercollegiate Athletic for Women (AIAW) in 1982.  UWL has recorded 29 top-10 finishes, including 17 in the top-four, in 39 appearances at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships.  

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