Blewitt (left) and Jeschelnig (right) picked up 18 points in the hammer for Ashland on Thursday

2003 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships

There was no stopping the Abilene Christian men and Lincoln University women as they both came away with the team titles at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships at Southern Illinois Edwardsville.

After claiming second in the hammer throw on Thursday, Ashland's Adriane Blewitt won her premiere event, the shot put, with a mark of 57-06.50. She then came back to win the discus with her mark of 181-01. It marked the end of a spectacular collegiate career for the senior and looks forward to the next step at the professional level.

The Western State men grabbed 18 team points in the steeplechase as Phillip McPherson came across the line first in 8:53.14 while teammate Jason Donald ran 9:02.26.

Bernard Manirakiza of Abilene Christian got his double victory in the 800 and 1500 meters as the junior clocked 1:51.77 and 3:49.26.

Moya Thompson of Lincoln University helped lead her team to the title with her outstanding time of 51.80 in the 400 meters. Libia Rodriguez of St. Augustine's was second in 51.89.

The men's triple jump saw Ben Washington of Abilene Christian be a part of an important 18 team points as the sophomore leaped to a winning mark of 51-03.75. Teammate and freshman Yevgen Pashchenko grabbed second with his mark of 51-02.75.

Another freshman, Will Littleton of Angelo State, took home the high jump title with his clearance of 7-00.25 while Clint Prange of Northwest Missouri took top honors in the discus with his throw of 178-03.

The multi-events wrapped up with Nate Schmidt of North Dakota State scoring 7326 in the decathlon and Nikkisha Mayn of Lincoln University taking the heptathlon with 5378 points.

Thursday's results saw the Ashland women pick up a quick and easy 18 points behind seniors Jackie Jeschelnig and Adriane Blewitt.

With a mark of 207-05, Jeschelnig picked up the national title just ahead of Blewitt who tossed the hammer 205-01. The men's hammer throw was won by another senior as Pro Escobedo of Western Oregon picked up the tab with his toss of 206-04.

Tony Thompson of Cal-State Bakersfield won the shot put with his heave of 63-02.25.

Jeff Billing of UC Davis took home the long jump honors with his winning leap of 24-11.75. The only running finals of the day saw Josh Eberly of Western State claim the men's 10,000 meters in 29:34.34 while Molly Wedel of South Dakota won the women's event in 35:22.22.

Amanda Thieschafer of North Dakota State was the top finisher in the triple jump with her winning leap of 42-05.25.

Christina Scherwin of Moravian set a DIII record throw of 181-6 in the javelin (Ken Baker)

2003 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships

CANTON, N.Y. -- The University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse came from three points down in the team race to win going away for its third straight NCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship in the final day of competition at St. Lawrence University's Merrick-Pinkard Track and Field complex on a damp Saturday.

Wheaton College of Massachusetts matched Wisconsin-LaCrosse in winning its third straight women's championship, sprinting to the championship after entering Saturday's competition in 29th place with four points.

Wisconsin-LaCrosse won the men's title with 88 points with Lincoln University second with 64 and Wisconsin-Oshkosh third with 44. Wheaton scored 68 points on Saturday to win the women's title with 72 points with Lehman College second with 52 and Wisconsin-LaCrosse third with 34.

Both the Wisconsin-LaCrosse men and Wheaton women completed a second straight sweep of NCAA Division III track titles as both were also 2003 indoor team champions.

Even a steady rain couldn't stop the assault on the NCAA Division III men's and women's track and field championship record book during Saturday's final day of competition. A total of ten NCAA Division III meet records were set in the 2003 meet, six more than any other Division III championship meet ever.

Defending champion Missy Buttry ran away from the field and the Wartburg College sophomore won her second straight NCAA 1500 meter championship, breaking a 16-year-old NCAA meet record and Division III all-time mark with a time of 4:20.86, nearly seven seconds faster than the previous record set by Cresey Stewart of Occidental in 1987.

Buttry came back later in the day and erased the 20-year-old meet and all-time Division III record in the 5000 meters winning by nearly a full minute with a time of 15:51.33 and knocking 15 seconds off the record set in 1983. It was the tenth NCAA record set during the three day competition.

The meet and all-time Division III record in the men's 400 meters also fell on Saturday as Wisconsin-LaCrosse junior Andrew Rock clipped .61 seconds off the record which was set in 1992 with a 45.29 clocking. Rock came back later in the day to win his second title of the meet with a 21.07 clocking in the 200 meter dash.

The third NCAA meet record to fall and the ninth of the 2003 meet came in the women's 800 meters as Wisconsin-Oshkosh junior Liz Woodworth defended her title with a win in 2:07.39.

The men's 4x100 relay team from Nebraska Wesleyan of Jeff Aldridge, Josh Becker, Tim Beckmann and Brett Blake ran 40.56 seconds in the first race of the day, improving the track record set by Rowan University in the trials.

Carthage College won the women's 4x100 relay in a track record 46.55 seconds with a team of Caretha Carroll, Sheana Grigsby, Latrice Powell and Muffy Israel.

Willamette freshman Nick Symmonds outkicked Trinity (CT) senior Ryan Bak to win the men's 1500 title in a track record and Division III season's best 3:46.66, winning by .09 seconds. Symmonds came back just over a half hour later to complete an impressive double, outkicking defending champion Matt Groose of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the final 50 meters to win in 1:49.5.

Healy Thompson of Williams won the women's shot put with a 15.18 meter (49-9.75) throw to establish a new facility mark in that event. Thompson earned All America honors in the shot for the eighth time in her four year career, four times indoors and four outdoors.

Freshman Kim Deprez of SUNY Geneseo was the other women's field event champion on Saturday. Deprez was one of four athletes who cleared 1.67 meters (5-5.75) in the high jump and won the title on fewest attempts.

Chaz Clemons of Lincoln won his fourth straight Division III 100 meter dash championship with a win in 10.71 seconds.

Senior Brandon Tedrow of LaVerne captured the 2003 championship in the men's javelin throw with a mark of 60.31 meters (197-10) while senior Justin Jarmon of Lincoln set a facility record in winning the triple jump with a 14.89 meter (48-10.25) series.

Sophomore Cody Brotherton is the 2003 champion in the men's shot with a thorw of 17.84 meters (58-6.5).

In the men's 110 hurdles, junior Skip Ivey of Wittenburg nipped Derek Toshner of Wisconsin-LaCrosse at the tape to win the championship in 14.63 seconds with Toshner second in 14.65. Toshner came back to win the 400 hurdle championship in 50.81 seconds.

Senior Paulette Baldwin of Lehman won the championship in the women's 100 hurdles in 14.43 seconds and Tierra Hicks of Montclair State was the champion in the women's 400 hurdles in 59.22 seconds.

Wheaton (MA) junior Amber James won her third straight NCAA championship in the 400 meter dash, setting the track record with a win in 54.25 seconds, the best in Division III this season. She came back later in the day for the title in the 200 meters as well, winning in 24.60 seconds.

Teammate Vernick Smith added the championship in the 100 meters with a winning time of 12.02 seconds as Wheaton sprinted into the women's team race lead.

Senior Nick Ricco of the College of New Jersey won the 2003 championship in the men's 5000 meters in 14.23.47.

Wisconsin-LaCrosse put the lid on its team victory with a win in the 4x400 relay, holding off a charging Lincoln University team at the wire. The Wisconsin-LaCrosse team of Nate Olson, Eric Schmidt, Dan Haumschild and Kris Smith won in 3:11.08 with Lincoln second in 3:11.11.

Wheaton also finished off its team title with a win in the 4x400 as the team of Tessa Donoghue, Vernick Smith, Jana Bromell and Amber James ran 3:43.32 to win by over three seconds.

2003 NAIA Outdoor Championships
Get complete meet information and results from the 2003 NAIA Outdoor Championships.