Courtesy Benedictine Sports Information

LISLIE, Ill. - The Williams women's track and field team earned a second-place showing at the 2006 NCAA Track and Field Championships, while the Ephs' men's track and field team came in fourth during the three-day event. Ephs senior Caroline Cretti won the individual title in the 5,000-meter run, while Bates senior Keelin Godsey set an NCAA Division III Championship record in the hammer throw. Tufts' Fred Jones captured the men's triple jump crown, and Williams' Dan Austin repeated as individual champion in men's discus.

Wisconsin schools claimed the men's and women's team titles as UW-Oshkosh won the women's title and UW-LaCrosse recaptured the men's crown at the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships hosted by Benedictine University.

For UW-Lacrosse, it was the fifth team title in the past six year, and record 10th crown overall, by garnering 74.5 points. Williams College and McMurry tied for fourth with 34 points apiece. Other NESCAC teams in the top 20 included Middlebury in 14th with 19 points, while Tufts finished in a three-way tie for 20th with 13 points.

The women's title by UW-Oshkosh was also a record seventh crown for the Titans. Williams finished second with a total of 42 points, while Bates placed seventh with 24 points.

NESCAC highlights from the three-day event include:

Day One
Women's Discus
UW-Oshkosh's Robyn Jarocki bested a field of 19 student-athletes to claim the women's discus title. Jarocki, a senior, successfully defended her 2005 title in the event by throwing a stadium record 158' 2". Keelin Godsey of Bates College placed fourth with a throw of 144' 7".

Women's Long Jump
The University of St. Thomas' Kristal Grigsby capped her career with an NCAA Championship in the long jump, her third. Grigsby placed third last year after beginning her career with back-to-back titles. Grigsby's stadium record leap of 19' .75" was .25 inches farther than runner-up Kate Ross of Lewis and Clark. Caroline Doctor of Williams finished sixth in the event with a jump of 18' 6.5".

Men's Discus
Dan Austin of Williams repeated as the NCAA discus champion by throwing 195' 0". Austin bested second place Pete Ringquist of UW-Whitewater by over 15 feet.

Day Two
Women’s Hammer Throw
Keelin Godsey of Bates College set an NCAA Division III Championship record with a throw of 203' 6" to claim the title in the women’s hammer throw. Godsey bettered her mark which won last year’s title and topped the field by over 20 feet. Robyn Jarocki of UW-Oshkosh was the runner-up (191' 10") followed by teammate Danielle Rankin (176' 6").

Women’s High Jump
Trinity’s (Texas) Christyn Schumann won the women’s high jump with a season best mark of 5' 9.75" which bettered her winning mark from 2005. Kristin Moss of Williams and Jennifer Harlow of Wheaton (Mass.) tied for second, each clearing 5' 7" in the same amount of attempts.

Men’s Hammer Throw
Ross Kapp, a senior at UW-Whitewater, won the men’s hammer throw with a toss of 198' 11". Uzoma Orji of MIT finished second (198' 4").UW-Whitewater also placed Joe Busalacchi third. Busalacchi threw 193' 0". Colby’s Jason Foster was fourth (186' 8") while Dan Austin of Williams (179' 5") came in seventh.

Women’s 3000 Meter Steeplechase
Amanda Kuca of Concordia (Wisconsin) set an NCAA Division III Championship record in winning the steeplechase Friday evening. Kuca’s time of 10:15.72 topped the old record by over 10 seconds. 2005 champion Shauneen Garrahan of Amherst (10:43.85) finished fourth, with Becca Ades of Tufts (10:47.64) placing seventh and Kathryn Moore of Bates (10:49.46) finishing in eighth place.

Day Three
Women’s Triple Jump
Alecia Watson of the City College of New York claimed the championship in the women’s triple jump. Watson’s mark of 40' 11" was nearly six inches better than second place Angie Hawk of Millikin (40' 5.5"). Caroline Doctor of Williams (38' 8.25") placed fifth in the triple jump.

Women’s Shot Put
Robyn Jarocki of UW-Oshkosh successfully defended her title in the women’s shot put and set an NCAA record in the process. Jarocki’s mark of 55' .25" bested a meet record set in 2003. Jarocki captured her second title of the meet. Keelin Godsey of Bates took second with a throw of 46' 10.25".

Women’s 1,500 Meter Run
North Central’s Amber Druien won the first of two events where she held the top time entering Saturday’s finals. Druien took the 1,500 meters in a stadium record 4:28.03 to claim the title. Catherine Beck of Tufts was second (4:29.08) followed by SUNY-Oneonta’s Kaitlin O’Sullivan (4:32.85).

Men’s 1,500 Meter Run
Willamette’s Nick Symmonds captured his second straight 1,500 meter title by winning the event in 3:49.24 Saturday afternoon. Will Leer of Pomona-Pitzer was a close second (3:49.70) followed by Mike Davitian of Williams (3:50.95).

Men’s Shot Put
Uzoma Orji of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) used his second to last throw to win the shot put with a toss of 60' 2.5". Nate Meckes of Calvin was the runner-up with a mark of 57' 9.5". Dan Austin of Williams finished sixth (54' 6.75").

Men’s Javelin
Corey White of the University of Redlands dominated the field in the men’s javelin, throwing 231' 7". David Bergeron of Westfield State was second with a mark of 208'. Joel Krebs of George Fox placed third (207' 6") followed by Middlebury’s Kristoph Becker (202' 9").

Men’s Triple Jump
Fred Jones of Tufts captured the men’s triple jump with a leap of 49' 7". Nathan Adkins of Redlands was the runner-up (49' 1"). Monmouth’s Albert Greene finished third (48' 10.25") followed by Brandon Mirach of Williams (48' 6.25"). Dan Marcy from Tufts (47' 9.75") placed sixth.

Men’s 400 Meter Hurdles
Lincoln’s Jeff Jasmin won the 400 meter hurdles in 51.25. Middlebury’s Kevin Bright placed second in 51.95 while PJ Theisen of St. Thomas came home third (52.25). All of the top three were faster than the previous Division III best.

Men’s 200 Meter Dash
Howard Payne’s Greg Nixon won his second event of Saturday afternoon when he captured the 100 meter dash in 21.05. McMurry freshman Hanneus Ollison was second in 21.32 followed closely by Loncoln’s Bobby Young (21.33). Williams’ Andrew Arons (21.59) finished sixth in the event.

Men’s 5,000 Meter Run
Widener’s Macharia Yout won his third event of the meet by claiming the crown in the 5,000 meters. Yout’s time of 14:48.96 bested second place Julian Boggs of Colorado College (14:51.26). UW-Platteville’s Tyler Sigl came in third (14:56.64) and North Central’s Nick Hird (14:56.93) was fourth. Neal Holtschulte of Williams (14:57.39) followed in fifth.

Women’s 5,000 Meter Run
Caroline Cretti of Williams won the 5,000 meters in 17:12.32. Breanna Lucey of Keene State was the runner-up in 17:17.17.