DAY ONE, FRIDAY
Shelby Demos (Janesville/Parker) and Lexie Sondgeroth (Rochelle, IL/Township) earned All-America honors Friday at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championship at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. 

Demos jumped 5-10.50 to finish second in the high jump.  She earned All-America distinction for the fourth time, having placed second in 2011 and sixth in 2010, as well third outdoors in 2011.  Elizabeth Evans of Rose-Hulman Institute won with the same height as Demos, but broke the tie with fewer attempts.  With her four All-America finishes Demos is the most decorated athlete in the history of Warhawk women's indoor track and field.

Sondgeroth went 18-1.50 in the long jump for eighth place in her first appearance in a national meet.  Skye Morrison of Wartburg College won the event with a distance of 20-3.0. 

Whitewater's JoLyn Owen (Middleton/Middleton) earned a spot in the pentathlon, finishing tenth with 3,249 points.  Emma Dewart of Ithaca College took first place with 3,674 points.  The school record holder, Owen also qualified for the NCAA III pentathlon last year.

The top eight finishers in each event, including relays, are track and field All-Americans.

UW-W finished twenty-first in the team standings, the Warhawks' best finish since tying for ninth place in 2001.  Wartburg College won the team title.


PREVIEW
Shelby Demos (Janesville/Parker), JoLyn Owen (Middleton/Middleton), and Lexie Sondgeroth (Rochelle, IL/Township) have earned a berth in the NCAA III Indoor Track and Field Championship.  The national meet will be hosted by Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa Friday-Saturday, March 9-10.

Championship Program

Demos, a junior, has competed successfully on the national stage.  She placed second at the 2011 NCAA indoor meet and sixth indoors in 2010.  She also placed third in the NCAA III outdoor meet last year.  Demos also competed in hurdles in last year's indoor meet.  Demos has the top height in the 2012 field, 5-10.75.  Elizabeth Evans of Rose-Hulman Institute won the 2011 high jump title at 5-7.75, and the Division III indoor record is 5-10.75 by Kristy Laramee of Middlebury College in the 2000 meet.  Demos' qualifying mark, 5-10.75, is the UW-W indoor record.

Owen, also a junior, will compete in the pentathlon.  Owen is in the field with a score of 3,176 points.  Emma Dewart of Ithaca College tops the qualifiers with her point total of 3,578.  Dewart is the defending pentathlon champion.  Ashley Huston of Hardin-Simmons set the Division III record with 3,725 points in the 2009 meet.  Owen also qualified for the pentathlon last year, but suffered an injury during the competition.  She set the Whitewater record with 3,353 points last year.  A versatile competitor, Owen also qualified for the 2011 NCAA III outdoor championship in the high jump. 

Sondgeroth, a freshman, qualified for the long jump in the national meet in her first try.  She is twelfth among qualifiers with her 18-7.25 jump, with Skye Morrison of Wartburg College leading the field at 20-3.  Ashlynn Chavis of Methodist College won the 2011 indoor title with a leap of 19-5.5, just ahead of Morrison in second.  The Division III record is 19-6.75, set by Shimera Daniels of Wheaton College (MA) in 2002.  Becky Karls' distance of 18-11 set the UW-Whitewater indoor record in 1993, the second oldest record still on the books.

The top eight finishers in each event, including relays, earn All-America recognition.

UW-W is ranked twenty-first in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division III rating.

UW-Whitewater tied for twenty-fourth place in last year's NCAA III indoor championship.  The school's best finish came in 1993, when the Warhawks tied for fifth.

UW-Oshkosh won the 2011 NCAA III indoor meet, followed by Wartburg and MIT. Wartburg won the meet in 2009 and 2010.

For additional information:  Michael Johnson, UW-W track and field coordinator