NCAA Division III Indoor Championships Website

Birmingham, Ala. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's track and field team captured its second National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Indoor Championship Saturday night at the Birmingham CrossPlex. The Eagles finished with 59.5 team points to win their first indoor national championship since 2015. 

Washington University-St. Louis (Mo.) placed second on Saturday with 54.0 points while Loras College (Iowa) was third with 40.5 and Johns Hopkins University (Md.) fourth with 33.0. The University of Mount Union (Ohio) placed fifth (32.0) while the University of Chicago (Ill.) was sixth (27.0), Tufts University (Mass.) seventh (25.0), Ithaca College (N.Y.) eighth (24.0), Wartburg College (Iowa) ninth (23.0) and Williams College (Mass.) 10th (21.0). A total of 59 teams scored points. 

Birmingham-Southern College and City of Birmingham served as hosts of the championships.  

Along with the two national titles, UWL has finished runner-up six times (1993, 1999, 2001, 2009, 2014, 2022) at the indoor national championships

It is the first national title for UWL head coach Nickolas Davis. He led the Eagles to a second-place finish at the 2021 NCAA III Outdoor Championships and to second-place national finishes at the 2022 NCAA III Indoor and Outdoor Championships. 

Davis has also led UWL to four indoor (2018, 2020, 2022, 2023) and four outdoor (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022) Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championships.

UWL earned seven individual All-America accolades on Saturday, including a pair from Emma Lawrence. She finished second (24.44) in the 200-meter dash and third (8.53) in the 60-meter hurdles. Lawrence has now earned five career indoor All-America honors, including third in the 60-meter hurdles. She placed fourth last season. Lawrence was on the fourth-place 4x400-meter relay in 2022.

Her time of 24.44 in the 200-meter dash set a school record, breaking the time of 24.72 set by Meg Heafy in 2015.

She also earned All-America honors in the 60-meter hurdles and 4x400-meter relay in 2020 after the national championships were canceled due to the COVID-19 health threat. The All-America honors were given to all student-athletes for individual events and relays that were declared and initially accepted into their event for the national meet.

UWL's Ainsley Hansen and Macie Todd earned NCAA III All-America honors in the high jump on Saturday, their first career award. Hansen finished second (5-7 3/4) and Todd tied for fourth (5-5 1/4). The Eagles' Olivia Owens tied for 11th (5-3 1/4) in Saturday's high jump. 

Skye Digman earned her second All-America honor of this year's championships with a fourth-place finish (47-10 1/2) in the shot put on Saturday. It is her fourth career NCAA III award in the shot put after winning the title in 2022 and finishing fifth in 2019. Digman captured the national crown in the weight throw (62-11 1/2) on Friday.  She earned NCAA III All-America honors in the shot put and weight throw in 2020 after the national meet was canceled. 

Lauren Jarrett and Maddie Hannan also earned All-America accolades on the track Saturday. Jarrett placed sixth (7.71) in the 60-meter dash while Hannan was seventh (4:55.79) in the mile run. Hannan also placed 17th (10:00.88) in the 3,000-meter run on Saturday. It is Hannan's first career individual All-America honor and third overall. She was on the sixth-place distance medley relay last season after also being a member of the qualifying distance medley relay in 2020 when the national championships were canceled. 

The Eagles' 4x400-meter relay of Mara Schroeder, Melanie Kunze, Morgan Jennings and Emily Dawidowich earned All-America honors on Saturday with a fourth-place finish (3:47.80). UWL set a school record, breaking the time of 3:48.27 set by Jenna Halvorson, Bria Halama, Shannon Klein and Claire Elliott in 2014.

UWL's Miah Keller finished 14th (37-8 1/2) and Hailie Kent 18th (36-7 3/4) in the triple jump on Saturday. 

UWL opens its outdoor season Saturday, April 1 at the Wartburg (Iowa) Outdoor Select.