Thompson Wins Two Throwing Events At NCAA Championship
Sydney Thompson won two throwing events and Alexandria Demco ran to a pair of All-America performances as UW-Oshkosh finished seventh at the NCAA Division III Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championship held Thursday through Saturday (May 27-29) at North Carolina A&T State University's Irwin Belk Track & Field Complex in Greensboro, N.C.
Thompson threw to victories in both the discus and shot put competitions. The individual national outdoor titles by Thompson, who transferred to UW-Oshkosh from Minnesota State University, Mankato following the 2019 season, were the 49th and 50th in program history.
Demco earned her first All-America awards by finishing fifth in the 1,500- and sixth in the 800-meter runs.
The Titans also has Morgan Florek pick up an All-America mention in the discus. Florek, who also transferred to UW-Oshkosh from Minnesota State University, Mankato following the 2019 season, placed fifth in the event for her first All-America decoration.
This year's championship featured 19 entrants in each of the 19 individual events and 14 contestants in both two relays. The top-eight finishers in each event earned All-America honors.
Thompson was seeded third in the discus and won the event with a season-best measurement of 153-4 while the 14th-seeded Florek finished fifth with a distance of 141-1. Thompson achieved her winning mark on the first of six throws while Florek acquired her finish on the sixth and final throw. Linnaea Konfrst of Nebraska Wesleyan University placed second to Thompson in the event with a cast of 152-0.
Thompson entered the shot put competition as the top seed and won the event with a season-best measurement of 49-11 3/4. Thompson obtained her winning distance on the third of her six throws. Megan Gehrke of the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) finished second in the event with a toss of 49-10.
Thompson additionally finished ninth in the hammer throw with a mark of 165-3.
Demco, the seventh seed in the 1,500-meter run, finished fifth in the race with a season-best time of 4:30.68. Emily Pomainville of State University of New York at Geneseo won the event with a time of 4:21.26.
In the 800-meter run, Demco placed sixth with 2:13.24. She entered the championship as the event's eighth seed. Esther Seeland of Messiah College (Pa.) won the race with a championship record time of 2:02.52.
UW-Oshkosh was also represented at the championship by Cara Volz. She finished 15th in the javelin with a throw of 124-4. Sophia Slovenski of the University of Southern Maine took first place in the event with a measurement of 158-2.
Demco and Volz were both appearing at the Division III Championship for the second time. Demco was a member of the Titans' 1,600-meter relay team in 2019 while Volz competed in the triple jump in 2018.
Loras College (Iowa) scored 58 points to win its second consecutive title. UW-La Crosse finished second to the Duhawks with 56 points while State University of New York at Geneseo placed third with 49, Ithaca College (N.Y.) fourth with 38.33 and Johns Hopkins University (Md.) fifth with 34.
UW-Oshkosh accumulated 31 points en route to its seventh-place finish. The finish was the Titans' highest since placing seventh at the 2015 championship.
A total of 117 programs were represented at this year's championship, including 72 that scored points.
UW-Oshkosh, which owns a division-record nine national outdoor championships, has now scored at least three points at 33 of the past 34 meets. The Titans claimed Division III titles in 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2011. UW-Oshkosh also has nine runner-up finishes and three third-place showings in program history.
Last year the Division III Men's and Women's Championships were canceled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
NCAA Division III Women's Outdoor Track & Field
NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships Program
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