Women’s team captures first championship since 2015 for Eagles, who also prevail by half-point to secure first men’s victory since 2017; Ramapo’s Traore takes down 200 all-time mark, Johns Hopkins’ Kadiri soars to triple jump history and Rochester eclipses 20-year-old women’s 4x400 record

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Wisconsin-La Crosse had already experienced sharing men’s indoor team titles multiple times in building the most impressive dynasty in NCAA Division 3 track and field history.

The Eagles were willing to share the podium again Saturday at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Alabama, only this time, they wanted to be joined by the Wisconsin-La Crosse women’s team.

For the first time at the Division 3 indoor championship meet, one school swept both titles, with Wisconsin-La Crosse capturing its record 19th men’s team crown by a half-point and securing its second women’s victory, the other coming in 2015.

RESULTS

Wisconsin-La Crosse edged Massachusetts Institute of Technology by a 35 to 34.5 margin in the men’s final, with Loras and SUNY Geneseo tying for third with 32 points apiece.

Wisconsin-La Crosse tied North Central for the men’s championship in 2017, its last title before Saturday, and shared the crown in 2009 with Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

The Eagles nearly achieved a team sweep in 2015, but Wisconsin-Eau Claire edged Wisconsin-La Crosse in the men’s final by a two-point margin.

Washington University placed second in the women’s championship meet with 54 points, followed by Loras taking third with 40.5 points and Johns Hopkins finishing fourth with 33 points.

There were several division records set, including spectacular sprinting from Cheickna Traore of Ramapo, memorable jumping by Victoria Kadiri of Johns Hopkins and a 20-year-old relay mark being eclipsed by the Rochester women’s 4x400.

Traore became the first male athlete in division history to run under 21 seconds in the 200-meter final, clocking 20.72 to prevail against the previous fastest athlete in Division 3 in Sam Blaskowski of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Traore also elevated to No. 2 all-time in Division 3 by capturing the 400 crown in 46.85.

Blaskowski, the 60-meter record holder, won the dash title in 6.71 and placed runner-up to Traore in the 200 final in 21.16.

Kadiri became the first female athlete in the division to surpass 43 feet in the triple jump indoors or outdoors with her third-round effort of 43-3 (13.18m). Kadiri surpassed the 13-meter mark again in the sixth round for the No. 2 mark in division history at 42-8.25 (13.01m).

Kadiri was the highest-scoring athlete at the championships, also winning the long jump title with a leap of 19-5.50 (5.93m) and finishing fifth in the pentathlon with 3,516 points.

Rochester and Loras produced a thrilling battle in the women’s 4x400 final, with Madeline O’Connell, Kate Isaac, Megan Bell and Susan Bansbach clocking 3:44.84 to lift the Yellowjackets to the championship and the division record.

Marion Edwards, Stevie Lambe, Harmony Creasy and Alyssa Pfadenhauer ran 3:45.01 for Loras, matching the 2003 mark established by Wheaton of Massachusetts.

Along with Kadiri and Traore, Fiona Smith of St. Benedict and Joseph White of Carthage also won multiple individual championships.

Smith captured the women’s 3,000 and 5,000 titles, clocking 9:25.62 and 16:33.79, respectively.

White ruled the ring, winning the men’s weight throw with a second-round effort of 70-3 (21.41m) and secured the shot put crown with a third-round performance of 60-7.25 (18.47m).

Mount Union’s Kenadee Wayt scored in four finals, winning the 200 in 24.31, taking third in the 400 in 55.55, finishing fourth in the 60 in 7.66 and contributing to a fifth-place effort in the 4x400 in 3:48.30.

In addition to Blaskowski, Ethan Gregg was a significant factor in Wisconsin-La Crosse edging MIT for the men’s championship.

Gregg won the 3,000 in 8:01.23, holding off Division 3 record holder and runner-up Alex Phillip of John Caroll (8:02.46) and the division’s all-time 800 and mile standout Ryan Wilson of MIT (8:05.29).

Christian Patzka of Wisconsin-Whitewater prevailed in the men’s 5,000 final in 13:47.01, with division record holder Phillip placing second in 13:52.29 and Gregg taking third in 13:53.93.

Logan Larson produced the only other point for Wisconsin-La Crosse, earning eighth place in the men’s pole vault final with a 15-11 (4.85m) clearance.

Wilson won the mile in 4:02.62 and Kenneth Wei triumphed in the long jump with a sixth-round performance of 24-3 (7.39m) for MIT, but after eight athletes tied at 6-7.75 (2.03m) in the high jump, the Engineers only managed to earn a seventh-place tie from Jackson Biley, which resulted in the half-point margin behind Wisconsin-La Crosse.

SUNY Geneseo captured both the men’s 4x400 and distance medley relay titles, edging Johns Hopkins by a 9:48.39 to 9:48.43 margin in the latter and winning the former in 3:11.64.

Loras’ Mike Jasa prevailed in the 800 in 1:49.30 and Eli Etherton of Nebraska Wesleyan edged Jayson Ekiyor of Bethel in Minnesota by a 7.995 to 7.996 margin in the 60-meter hurdles final.

Central College’s Sam Beatty triumphed in the men’s high jump with a 6-9 (2.06m) clearance, earning the tiebreaker against Penn State-Behrend’s Samuel Hetrick on fewer attempts.

Southern Maine’s Ben Drummey cleared 16-6.75 (5.05m) on the first attempt to win the men’s pole vault, with Wisconsin-Oshkosh’s Jonathan Wilburn taking the triple jump crown following a 51-0.75 (15.56m) effort in the sixth round.

Jackson Anderson of Williams benefited from individual victories in the 60-meter dash in 6.84 and 60-meter hurdles in 8.11 to secure the heptathlon championship with 5,364 points.

Skye Digman was the only individual winner for the Wisconsin-La Crosse, capturing the weight throw championship with a 62-11.50 (19.19m) performance in the fifth round, along with producing a fourth-place shot put effort of 47-10.50 (14.59m).

Although Jaidyn Appel from Tufts won the high jump crown with a 5-10 (1.78m) clearance, Ainsley Hansen placed second with a 5-7.75 (1.72m) performance and Macie Todd tied for fourth by clearing 5-5.25 (1.66m) for Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Emma Lawrence was second behind Wayt in the 200 in 24.44, along with taking third in the 60 hurdles in 8.53 for the Eagles.

Ashley O’Connell and Araceli De Leo Lopez finished fourth and seventh, respectively, in the women’s pole vault for the Wisconsin-La Crosse, which also finished fourth in the 4x400 relay in 3:47.80.

Washington University relied heavily on Emma Kelley (2:06.62) and Aoife Dunne (2:08.65) taking the top two spots in the 800, along with holding off Chicago by an 11:35.09 to 11:35.88 margin in the DMR final.

Birgen Nelson of Gustavus Adolphus, the division record holder in the 60-meter hurdles, prevailed in 8.39.

Annika Urban of Emory achieved the No. 2 mile performance in division history on a 200-meter banked track with her 4:43.17 effort.

Adalia Coleman of Bridgewater in Virginia repeated as women’s 60-meter dash champion in 7.54 and Wesleyan’s Grace Devanny captured the 400 crown in 54.96.

Gracie Holland of Wisconsin-Whitewater cleared 13-1.50 (4.00m) on her first attempt to prevail in the pole vault final, with Catie Fobbe of Wisconsin-Eau Claire securing the shot put crown following a 49-4.25 (15.04m) performance in the fifth round.

Elizabeth Barre of Carnegie Mellon relied on individual victories in the long jump at 18-8 (5.69m) and high jump at 5-7 (1.70m) to win the pentathlon championship with 3,837 points.