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Women's Track & Field

Four Titans To Perform At NCAA Women's Championship

Four Titans To Perform At NCAA Women's Championship

Recap Results

UW-Oshkosh's Elizabeth Abhold, Kristen Linzmeier, Erica Munyan and Isabella Samuels were each announced on Sunday (May 21) as qualifiers for the NCAA Division III Women's Track & Field Outdoor Championship.

The 36th edition of the Division III Women's Track & Field Outdoor Championship will be held this weekend (May 26-28) at the SPIRE Track & Field Institute in Geneva, Ohio. Competition begins at 11:30 a.m. (EDT) on both Thursday (May 25) and Friday (May 26) and at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday (May 27). The meet will be held in conjunction with the 44th chapter of the men's championship.

The women's championship will feature 22 entrants in each of the 19 individual events and 16 participants in both of the two relays.

Abhold will compete as the 13th seed in the hammer throw, Linzmeier is seeded 18th in the 800-meter run, Munyan 14th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Samuels 10th in the shot put. Abhold is back at the Division III outdoor meet for the second straight year while Linzmeier, Munyan and Samuels will be making their NCAA outdoor debuts.

Abhold, the two-time reigning WIAC hammer throw champion, established her qualifying cast of 174-5 at the Gregory Final Qualifier meet on May 11 in Naperville, Ill. The senior is returning to the national meet after finishing 10th in the hammer throw a year ago with a distance of 172-11.

Whitney Simmons from University of Texas at Tyler, the defending hammer throw champion, is seeded first with a qualifying heave of 206-11 while Kara Eck from Trine University (Ind.) is seeded second at 189-0.

Linzmeier, a junior, had a season-best time of 2:11.70 in the 800-meter run at the Dr. Keeler Track & Field Invitational on May 11 in Naperville, Ill. Linzmeier, who finished seventh in the 800-meter race at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championship, placed third in the event at the WIAC Outdoor Championship earlier this month.

Emily Richards, a junior from Ohio Northern University, is back to defend her 800-meter crown. Richards is seeded first with a time of 2:02.34 while Carmen Mejia from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (Calif.) is the second seed at 2:08.60.

Munyan, this year's WIAC 3,000-meter steeplechase champion, established her seed time of 10:51.93 at the Dr. Keeler Track & Field Invitational.

Erin Herrmann from Hope College (Mich.) is the top seed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:27.23, and Annie Rodenfels from Centre College (Ky.) is seeded second at 10:39.00.

Samuels, who finished third in the shot put at the WIAC Championship, had a season-best toss of 46-1 1/4 at the Augustana Midwest Twilight Final Qualifier on Thursday (May 18) in Rock Island, Ill.

The top two seeds in the shot put are Victoire Kothor from the College at Brockport (N.Y.) with a distance of 49-7 and Monique Newton from Oberlin College (Ohio) at 48-8 3/4.

UW-Oshkosh placed eighth at last year's championship with 20 points.

The Titans, who have taken home a top-three trophy at 21 of the 29 national championships since 1988, won a division-record nine national titles in 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2011. The Titans also own nine runner-up finishes and three third-place showings in program history.

Just 11 programs have ever won an NCAA Division III outdoor title since the championship debuted in 1982. Trailing UW-Oshkosh's nine titles are Christopher Newport University (Va.) with six, Wartburg College with five and three schools are tied with three each.

Last year, Illinois Wesleyan University won its second national title by scoring 42 points to eke past the 41 from Baldwin Wallace University (Ohio). Rounding out the top five teams were third-place Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) with 39 points, fourth-place UW-La Crosse with 35 and fifth-place Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges with 33.

This season, Washington University enters the championship ranked first in the nation by U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Following the Bears in the rankings are State University of New York at Geneseo in second, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in third, Ithaca College (N.Y.) in fourth and Nebraska Wesleyan University in fifth.

2017 NCAA Division III Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championship Website