PELLA — Central College men’s track and field hurdler and high jumper Gunner Meyer (senior, Fairbank, Wapsie Valley HS) was named the USTFCCCA Division III Men’s National Athlete of the Week Monday.

In the 60-meter hurdles race at the Jimmy Grant Alumni Invitational hosted by the University of Iowa Saturday, Meyer clocked in at 7.92 second. It’s the fastest time by any Division III athlete so far this season. It’s also the fastest in American Rivers Conference history. He placed third in the meet behind a pair of Hawkeyes.

At the Dutch Holiday Preview on Friday, Meyer cleared 6 feet, 7.5 inches in the high jump. He finished second after teammate Lance Bunde (sophomore, Guthrie Center, ACGC HS) cleared the same bar but in fewer attempts. He is tied for seventh in Division III with that height.

This is the second time a Central athlete has received the national weekly honor for the indoor season. The first was Eric Larson in 2015.

 

STANDISH, Maine – The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) weekly honors have been released and Saint Joseph’s College of Maine was well-represented, with sophomore Isaac Keresey (Pittsfield, Maine) named GNAC Track Athlete of the Week, junior Tudum Monday (Lewiston, Maine) selected as GNAC Field Athlete of the Week, and freshman Stephen Pierre (Turner, Maine) earning GNAC Rookie of the Week recognition following their performances at the USM Alumni Open.

Keresey claimed Track Athlete of the Week after placing second in the mile with a time of 4:31.81 and running on Saint Joseph’s second-place 4×400-meter relay that clocked 3:42.01. Keresey is now the top-ranked miler in the GNAC and sits ninth in Division III New England early in the 2025-26 indoor season.

Pierre was tabbed Rookie of the Week after setting two school records at the USM Alumni Open. He won the long jump with a mark of 6.81m (22′ 4.25″), meeting the New England Division III automatic qualifying standard, and placed second in the 55-meter hurdles in 7.98, a New England Division III provisional time. Pierre now leads the GNAC in both events and is ranked sixth in Division III New England in the long jump and eighth in Division III New England in the hurdles as of December 14.

Monday earned Field Athlete of the Week honors by winning the triple jump with a mark of 13.03m (42′ 9″), meeting the New England Division III provisional standard. He also ran 8.24 in the 55-meter hurdles prelims, meeting the New England Division III provisional standard in that event as well. Monday ranks first in the GNAC in the triple jump by 60 centimeters and sits 14th in Division III New England.

STANDISH, Maine – The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) weekly honors have been released and Saint Joseph’s College of Maine was well-represented, with freshman Amber Pendleton (Warren, Maine) named GNAC Track Athlete of the Week, sophomore Olivia Bean (South Portland, Maine) selected as GNAC Field Athlete of the Week, and freshman Olivea Miller (Livermore Falls, Maine) earning GNAC Rookie of the Week recognition following their performances at the USM Alumni Open.

Pendleton claimed Track Athlete of the Week after winning the 500 meters in 1:27.86, setting a Saint Joseph’s program record. She also competed on the winning 4×400-meter relay that recorded a time of 4:30.61.

Miller was tabbed Rookie of the Week after placing second in the 200 meters in 27.37, meeting the New England Division III provisional qualifying standard. She also finished second in the high jump with a clearance of 1.47m (4′ 9.75″). Miller now leads the GNAC in both events and is ranked 21st in Division III New England in the 200m and 26th in Division III New England in the high jump as of December 14.

Bean earned Field Athlete of the Week honors by winning the triple jump with a school-record mark of 10.72m (35′ 2″), meeting the New England Division III provisional standard. She also placed eighth in the long jump with a best of 4.68m (15′ 4.25″). Bean’s record-setting triple jump mark currently ranks seventh in the New England region.

The Case Western Reserve University women’s cross country team saw a talented class of first-year runners lead the way, as the team was represented at the NCAA Division III Championships for the sixth time in the last seven years in 2025.

CWRU was led by a pair of first-years, as Francesca Taracila was the top-finishing Spartan in three races during the year, while Halina Tompkins crossed the finish line first among Spartans on four occasions. Taracila got stronger as the season went on and was the first CWRU runner to cross the line at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship, earning an NCAA Championship berth with a ninth-place finish overall at the meet with a career-best time of 22:28.8 in the women’s 6K.

Taracila went on to place 74^th out of 290 total finishers at the NCAA Division III Championship in Spartanburg, South Carolina the following week. Her time of 22:35.9 was the seventh-fastest among 45 total first-year runners at the meet. It marked the 22nd consecutive season that the Spartans have been represented by at least one men’s or women’s team member at the NCAA Division III Championship.

In addition to Taracila, Tompkins also claimed all-region honors with a 26^th-place finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Region Championship. Also scoring for the Spartans at the meet were seniors Arianna Holbrook (41^st) and Ayla Grabenbauer (42^nd), along with first-year Reid Smith (46^th). CWRU placed sixth out of 37 total teams at the regional championship.

CWRU also placed seventh at the UAA Championship on November 1 behind a 29^th-place finish from Tompkins and a 33^rd-place finish from Taracila.

The Spartans were featured in all nine United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Great Lakes Region polls during the year, and were ranked as high as fourth in the region over the course of the campaign. CWRU has been ranked in 12 consecutive regional polls dating back to last season.

Other highlights from the season included team wins at both the Daniel Mullen Memorial Invitational on October 4 and the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble on October 18.  CWRU placed five runners in the top-10 at the Daniel Mullen Invite, including Taracila (second), first-year Aditi Mukundhan (fourth), sophomore Cecilia Postma (fifth), Smith (sixth), and sophomore Becca Liaw (ninth). Tompkins also led the way at the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble with a 10^th-place finish and was followed by Taracila (12^th), Holbrook (16^th), Liaw (21^st), and Mukundhan (22^nd). Eight of the 12 Spartan runners who competed at Oberlin recorded season-best times, including Tompkins, whose time of 22:17.9 was the fastest by a Spartan in 2025.

The Spartans added a third-place finish out of 11 teams at the Pre-National Meet and opened the season with a 15-50 win over John Carroll at the Bill Sudeck Invitational with each of the top seven finishers in the race coming from CWRU.

In addition to the team’s athletic success during the season, eight members of the women’s cross country team received UAA Fall All-Academic honors, including Grabenbauer, senior Julia Hluck, senior Lauren Iagnemma, sophomore Ciara Ledford, Liaw, senior Medha Patria, Postma, and sophomore Julia Walko.

The Spartans earned the following individual honors during the 2025 season:

Colorado College opened the 2025-26 track & field season at the Colorado Running Company Pre-Holiday Invite and Multi last weekend at UCCS.
 
Freshman Riley Webb posted the best individual performance for the Tigers, placing fourth in the women’s 400 with a time of 1:01.42. Senior Allison Barker followed in sixth place in 1:02.92 and sophomore Chloe Johnson was 14^th in 1:07.65.
 
Senior Emma Jones and freshman Jane Keenan tied for 10^th in the pole vault, while sophomore Jordyn Tomlinson placed 12^th in the shot put.
 
Junior Zaniya Bruno Munn and sophomore Keely Lueckeman ran in the prelims of the 60-meter dash, while Lueckeman and fellow sophomore Clara Kirr competed in the prelims of the 200-meter dash.
  
The Tigers return to action at the Colorado Invitational, Jan. 23-24, in Boulder, Colo.