Eagles In First Place After Day One; Grant Matthai Win Title; Nine Earn All-America Honors

Grant Matthai wins National Championship in 5000 meter run

Rochester, NY - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's track and field team is in first place after the first day of action at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Indoor Championships Friday at the Golisano Training Center.

2025 NCAA III INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP BASICS

Team Results - UWL is in first place with 24 points. UW-Oshkosh and Johns Hopkins University (MD) are tied for second place with 18 points followed by Wilmington University (Ohio) in fourth place (15 points) and UW-Whitewater in fifth place (11 points).
Location - Golisano Training Center, Rochester NY (hosted by Nazareth University (NY))
UWL at NCAA III Championships - UWL has won an NCAA Division III record 20 indoor titles, including 13 of the past 21. The Eagles are attempting to defend their 2023 and 2024 National Championships.
Up Next: Day two of the Championships gets underway at 9:00 a.m (CST) Saturday morning.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Field Events

Long Jump Final - UWL had two jumpers score in the long jump as Carter Pearson finished sixth (23-10 1/4) while Sebastian Jefferson placed eighth (23-6 3/4). It is the first NCAA All-America honors for both Pearson and Jefferson.
Pole Vault Final - The Eagles had two entries in the pole vault with Andrew Tumminaro finishing eighth (16-4 3/4) and Connor Boyle placing tied for 11th (16-0 3/4). With his eighth place finish, Tumminaro earns his first NCAA III Indoor All-America honor.

Track Events

60-meter dash Preliminaries - Sam Blaskowski qualified for the 60-meter finals with the fastest time (6.62). His time of 6.62 is the fastest time ran ever at the NCAA III Indoor Championships. Blaskowski will attempt to win his third consecutive NCAA III Title in the 60-meter dash on Saturday.
60-meter hurdles Preliminaries - Aaron Poelma finished the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.29 as he did not qualify for the finals on Saturday.
Mile Preliminaries - With a time of 4:10.86 Jayden Zywicki qualified for the mile finals on Saturday. Zywicki will try to earn his second All-American honor on Saturday as he finished fifth at the 2024 NCAA III Indoor Championships.
200-meter run Preliminaries - Blaskowski will look to defend his 2024 NCAA III Indoor Title in the 200-meter run as he qualified on Friday with the fastest time (21.32).
400-meter run Preliminaries -Collin Conzemius qualified for the 400-meter run finals as he ran a 48.28. His time was the seventh fastest time of the day. Chase Doornink also competed in the 400-meter run as he ran a 48.64 which just missed qualifying for the finals.
800-meter run Preliminaries - Cael Schoemann will look to defend his 2024 NCAA III 800-meter run championship as he qualified for the finals with a time of 1:52.37.
5000-meter Final - Winning his first 5000-meter national championship was Grant Matthai who finished with a time of 14:02.76 while his brother, Aidan Matthai, finished fourth overall with a time of 14:14.25. It is the second All-American honor for both Grant and Aidan as they both earned honors at last years championships.
4x400-meter Relay - The 4x400 relay team of Jacob Hohmann, Andrew Hackbarth, Devin Williams and Doornink qualified for the finals on Saturday as they finished with a time of 3:15.87.
Distance Medley Relay - The distance medley relay team of Joey Sullivan, Tyler Backes, Dirk Lueck and Adam Loenser finished fourth with a time of 9:55.73 to earn NCAA All-American honors.