The AU men and women, who at one point during the season were ranked No. 1 in the country, headed to Birmingham, Ala. ranked third and fourth in Division II.

Every season, the Track and Field Program has had success, and the program is continually growing.

“We are proud of so many kids,” said Head Coach Jud Logan. “There are so many athletes who lead us to these performances and gives us the rankings that we have.”

After day one of the NCAA Championships on Friday, the Track and Field program was able to add four more All-American honors to their long list.

In the women’s weight throw, senior Shatora Lewis finished third while fellow senior Jessica Bridenthal came in fifth place.

Senior Zac Ball played third in the men’s weight throw with a top mark of 69-feet-3 ½. 

Ending the day was the men’s distance medley relay team of seniors Drew Windle and Joshua Davis, junior Nick Hall and freshman Nick Halen.  The team placed seventh in 9:55.89.

On Saturday, Drew Windle ended his indoor track and field career with a bang, winning his fifth overall 800-meter run national championship.

Windle won the event by crossing the tape in 1:49.24, breaking the facility record in the process.

Windle currently has three indoor 800 run national titles and two outdoor 800 Division II championships.

As a team, the AU women tied for third and the Eagle men finished fourth overall.

The women finished the weekend with 37 points, tying with New Mexico Highland, behind champion Central Missouri who came in first with 47 points and Hillsdale who finished with 40 points.

The men fished with a total of 36 points, behind first-place Adams State who claimed 45 points and Findlay and Grand Valley who tied for second play with 40 points.

After day two, the Eagles added ten more All-American honors to the four from day one.

Senior Elijha Owens earned a pair of All-Americans on Saturday, finishing second in the 60-meter hurdles and fifth in the 400-meter dash.

The Eagles also had four athletes claim All-American efforts in the women’s.  Junior Jamie Sindelar placed second, sophomore Megan Tomei placed third, and seniors Lewis and Bridenthal place sixth and seventh.

Senior Jennifer Foster finished in a tie for second in the women’s high jump while freshman Elijah Talk took third place in the men’s shot put.

Freshman Irene Skinner earned her first All-American honor, placing eight in the 400-meter dash.

Now that the indoor season has come to a close, the outdoor Track and Field season begins and Logan knows he will see similar success from his athletes.

“Champions are made when no one is watching,” said Logan. “Championships are won when everyone is watching.  To get to the championship and perfrom in front of all those people watching, you need to do the little stuff in terms of how you take care of yourself in order to make it to the big dance.”

The Outdoor Track and Field team will compete in their first meet on March 27 and 28 at the Wooster Invitational.