DELAWARE, Ohio - Lexie Sondgeroth (Rochelle, IL/Township) became the UW-Whitewater's first national champion (men or women) in the 400 meter dash at the 2014 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship hosted by Ohio Wesleyan to lead UW-Whitewater to the program's best finish in the outdoor championship in school history. UW-W totaled 44.50 points for third. 

Results

Interview with Sondgeroth (courtesy of Mark Beckenbach, Ohio Wesleyan sports information)

Sondgeroth was clocked in school record time, 53.60, to win the 400. She is the third Warhawk woman to win a national title in the outdoor championship joining the likes of Tabitha Fendrick (discus-1999) and Dana Thompson (discus-2008). Sondgeroth also finished third in the 200 meter dash Saturday with a time of 24.57 to earn her third All-America honor of the outdoor meet. She finished second in the long jump Thursday for her first All-America recognition of the meet. Wartburg's Libby Schubert won the 200 meter dash with a time of 23.91. This is the second consecutive season Sondgeroth has taken home three All-America honors in the outdoor championships. Last season she finished second in the long jump, third in the 200 and fourth in the 100 meter dash.

Genny Stringer and Shelby Mahr (Boyd/Stanley-Boyd) added eight points to the team's total with fourth and sixth place finishes in the discus competition respectively. Stringer recorded a throw of 152-03 and Mahr's distance was 149-08. Kao Sutton of Carleton won the event with a toss of 155-02. Both earned All-America honors with Mahr marking her third of the meet. The thrower recorded a second place finish in the shot put Friday and was fifth in the hammer throw Thursday.

Wartburg won the championship with 65 team points. 

The Warhawks' previous best finish in the NCAA Outdoor Championship was a fourth place finish in 2000. 

FRIDAY, MAY 23 ... DAY TWO
The Warhawk women's track and field team sits atop the leaderboard after two days of competition in the NCAA Division III Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship held at Shelby Stadium in Delaware, Ohio Friday. Shelby Mahr (Boyd/Stanley-Boyd) notched her second All-America honors of the meet with a runner-up finish in the shot put. 

Results || Running Finals Heat Sheets

Mahr's toss of 49-7 was second only to Jecel Klotz of UW-Oshkosh, 50-8, but still set the UW-W program record in the event. Mahr recorded her first All-America honors of the 2014 outdoor meet Thursday with a fifth place finish in the hammer throw. Teammate Amy Miskowicz (Woodstock, IL/Marion Central Catholic) also competed in the shot finishing 18th with a throw of 42-0.

Lexie Sondgeroth (Rochelle, IL/Township) was the top qualifier in the 400 meters. She crossed the line in school record time, 54.51 and will try to remain on top of the field in the finals set for Saturday at 2:55 pm.

Amanda Brom (Jefferson/Jefferson) competed in the preliminaries in the 800 meter run finishing 15th in 2:12.55. 

The Warhawks will have three women competing in the final day of the outdoor championship. Genny Stringer and Shelby Mahr (Boyd/Stanley-Boyd) will throw in the discus competition set to begin at 3 pm. Sondgeroth will run in two events Saturday, the 400 beginning at 2:55 and the 200 at 4:25 pm.

THURSDAY, MAY 22 ... DAY ONE
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is in second place after the first day of the NCAA Division III Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship held at Shelby Stadium in Delaware, Ohio Thursday.  Lexie Sondgeroth (Rochelle, IL/Township), Shelby Mahr (Boyd/Stanley-Boyd) and Melanie Pilon (Waukesha/South) earned All-America honors with top eight finishes to compile 12.5 points for the Warhawks.  Williams College leads with 14 points, and the University of LaVerne and Washington University are tied for third with ten points each.  The meet will continue Friday and conclude Saturday.

Sondgeroth finished second in the long jump with her best of 19-0.75.  Naomi Bates of Amherst College won with a distance of 19-9.  Sondgeroth also finished second in the long jump in last year's outdoor championship, and she is a three-time All-American indoors in the event. 

Mahr earned fifth place in the hammer throw with a distance of 178-0.  Amina Avril of Williams led the field with her mark of 192-0.  Mahr also earned All-America recognition in two events earlier this spring in the NCAA III indoor meet, placing second in the weight throw and sixth in the shot put. 

Pilon pole vaulted 12-1.5 to tie for eighth place.  Anna Etherinton of Washington, last year's runner-up, took first at 13-7.25. 

Sondgeroth also ran in the 200 meter preliminaries, clocking 24.26 to finish second in her heat, and second overall in the prelims.  She advances to the finals at 3:25 Saturday.

Mahr and Sondgeroth will be in action again Friday, with Mahr in the shot put and Sondgeroth in the 400.  They will be joined by teammates Amy Miskowicz (Woodstock, IL/Marion Central Catholic), also in the shot, and Amanda Brom (Jefferson/Jefferson) in the 800.  Mahr will compete in her third event, the discus, along with teammate Genny Stringer Saturday.

The Warhawks tied for fifth place in the NCAA III indoor championship in March and finished seventh outdoors in 2013.

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PREVIEW
Lexie Sondgeroth (Rochelle, IL/Township) and Shelby Mahr (Boyd/Stanley-Boyd) have each qualified in three events to lead a group of six Warhawks that will represent UW-Whitewater at the 2014 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University at George Gauthier Track in Delaware, Ohio May 22-24. Click here for the championship schedule

Complete List of Participants

Sondgeroth, a three-time All-American outdoors, has the second best distance recorded in the long jump this season with a leap of 5.97 meters. Amherst's Naomi Bates is the lone DIII athlete to post a better jump this season, 5.99 meters. Sondgeroth finished second in the event last season. The junior will also compete in the 200 and 400 meter dash. She is seeded fourth in both events with a 200 time of 24.34 and a mark of 55.48 in the 400. Bates holds the top seed in the 200 with a time of 24.03 and Hulerie McGuffie of the University of Massachusettes-Boston leads the 400 rankings with a time of 55.14. 

Mahr will compete in three throws at the championships this weekend. Her throw of 14.64 meters in the shot put is seeded fourth. Teammate Amy Miskowicz (Woodstock, IL/Marion Central Catholic) has also qualified for the event with a put of 13.58 meters, 20th best in DIII this season. Mahr's mark of 43.80 is 20th in the participant list for the discus competition. UW-W's Genny Stringer is seeded sixth in the event with a throw of 45.81. Mahr's hammer throw mark of 52.67 is the tenth best mark this season in Division III. Kayla Hemann of Wartburg is the top qualifier in the shot put with a mark of 14.88. In the discus, Breanna Strupp, UW-Oshkosh leads the list of qualifiers with a throw of 48.15 and Williams' Amina Avril leads the hammer throw with toss of 57.28 meters. 

Also in the field events, Melanie Pilon (Waukesha/South) registered a mark of 3.70 meters in the pole vault, ranked 18th heading into the championships. Anna Etherington of Washington University-St. Louis has the top mark this season, 4.11 meters.

Amanda Brom (Jefferson/Jefferson) was clocked in 2:12.75 in the 800 meter run, 16th best in the nation this season. Oshkosh's Christy Cazzola leads the competitors in the event with a time of 2:05.68. 


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