BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Last year, as a freshman, he was third. This season, Andrew Jarrett is a national champion.
The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse sophomore won the weight throw at last weekend’s NCAA Division III national championships at 65-½ feet.
UW-L finished fifth overall, meaning it has never finished below fifth place since 1985.
Last season, the Eagles swept both the indoor and outdoor titles. UW-L has the NCAA record for indoor (18) and outdoor (15) titles — a 33 combined — as well as individual indoor champions at 38 with Jarrett’s title. The Eagles had won 11 of the last 17 indoor titles.
Jarrett’s championship, which took place Friday, is the fourth national crown at UW-L in the event. Terry Strouf (1987, 1988), Mike Seifert (1999) and Kevin Becker (2006) were the others.
Five others earned all-American honors for UW-L led by Ernest Winters. The junior took third in the 200-meter dash (21.75). As a sophomore, Winters placed second.
Other all-American honors for UW-L’s men included Christian Morzinski’s sixth-place in the weight throw (61-9½), Jacob Teunas taking eighth in the long jump (22-7), Wes Evansen’s fourth in the pole vault (16-2¾) and Thomas Schultz’s sixth in the 5,000-meter (14:34.54).
On the women’s side, UWL’s Betsy Schreier, Tess Miller and Maddie Nelson each earned all-America honors in the triple jump. Schreier placed fifth (38-10¼) while Miller finished sixth (38-9¾ ) and Nelson seventh (38-7¾).
UW-L’s women finished 29th overall. They last won indoors in 2015 and have been runners-up five times (1993, 1999, 2001, 2009, 2014) since the NCAA began sponsoring the indoor championships in 1985.
Heading into outdoors, the UW-L men have national championships in 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
As for the women, they placed fourth at last year’s outdoor championships, after winning the title in 2015 — sweeping indoor and outdoor. That was their first outdoor title since going back-to-back in 1983 and 1984 — they also won the
Association of Intercollegiate Athletic for Women (AIAW) title in 1982.
The UW-L women have crowned 25 individual or relay national champions. The men have 46 individual titles and eight relays.