After squeezing out close victories in 1999 and 2000, Wheaton (Massachusetts) won its third consecutive Division III Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships by a comfortable 28-point margin March 9-10 at Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

The Lyons racked up 63 points, the second-highest total in the championship's 17-year history.

Wisconsin-Oshkosh's winning margin is the largest ever. Christopher Newport previously held both marks, earned when it scored 66 points and won by 27 over Massachusetts-Boston in 1988.

Shimera Daniels spearheaded Wheaton's title run in 2001, winning the triple jump, placing third in the long jump and sixth in the 55-meter dash.

"I'm so happy for these athletes because they worked so hard for it," said Wheaton coach Paul Souza. "They were up at 5:30 a.m. all winter for practice before class, and they weren't going to let anyone tell them that their strongest athletes graduated last year.

"This team here is the strongest we've had, and it keeps getting better. If this was a rebuilding year, well then, we rebuilt."

Kim Jones made a major contribution for Souza's squad by finishing second in the long jump and third in the 55-meter dash. Amber James won the 400-meter dash for the Lyons, and Tenille Johnson added a third-place finish in the 55-meter hurdles and a fourth-place effort in the 400.

Wheaton put an exclamation point on its performance in the 1,600-meter relay as Johnson and James joined with Niara Woods and Jacqui Martinelli to edge Cortland State's unit by 1.16 seconds.

Wisconsin-La Crosse was second in the team standings with 35 points, followed by Williams with 26. Healy Thompson was the runner-up in both the shot put and 20-pound weight throw for Williams. Ellen Findlay came in second in the pole vault for Wisconsin-La Crosse, which placed second as a team for the third time.

Eastern Mennonite's Laura Rosenberger repeated as champion in the pole vault, and Rhondale Jones of Lincoln (Pennsylvania) earned her third straight title in the 55-meter hurdles. Jones' winning time of 7.85 seconds was a meet record.

Also setting meet records were Diana Lawson of New Jersey City in the 55-meter dash (6.98 seconds); Sara Nauman of Loras in the shot put (14.77 meters); Jessica Kohlman of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the 20-pound weight throw (17.88 meters); and Luther's distance medley relay team of Siri Thompson, Jaimie Rasmussen, Jenarah Tekippe and Johanna Olson (11 minutes, 55.81 seconds).

Team results

1. Wheaton (Mass.), 63; 2. Wis.-La Crosse, 35; 3. Williams, 26; 4. Wis.-Stevens Point, 21; 5. (tie) Lincoln (Pa.) and Wis.-Oshkosh, 18; 7. Neb. Wesleyan, 17; 8. Luther, 16; 9. (tie) Col. of New Jersey and Wis.-Whitewater, 14; 11. Cortland St., 12; 12. (tie) Eastern Ore., Loras, Middlebury and Moravian, 11; 16. (tie) Central (Iowa), East. Mennonite, Hamilton, New Jersey City and Tufts, 10;.

21. (tie) Concordia-M'head, Fredonia St. and Roanoke, 8; 24. (tie) Ithaca, Linfield and MIT, 6; 27. St. Benedict, 5; 28. (tie) Grinnell, John Carroll, North Central and Wesleyan (Conn.), 4; 32. (tie) Augustana (Ill.), Baldwin-Wallace, Bridgewater (Va.), Geneseo St., Keene St., Ohio Northern, St. Olaf, Wm. Paterson, Wis.-Platteville and Wis.-River Falls, 2; 42. (tie) Gust. Adolphus, Lehman and Ohio Wesleyan, 1.

Individual results

55-meter dash: 1. Diana Lawson, New Jersey City, 6.98 (meet record: old record, 7.01, Lisa Dillard, Chris. Newport, 1987); 2. Rhondale Jones, Lincoln (Pa.), 7.02; 3. Kim Jones, Wheaton (Mass.), 7.03; 4. Jenna Flateman, Wesleyan (Conn.), 7.15; 5. Rita Forte, Williams, 7.19; 6. Shimera Daniels, Wheaton (Mass.), 7.22.

400-meter dash: 1. Amber James, Wheaton (Mass.), 56.62; 2. Sarah Deeb, Tufts, 56.88; 3. Amber Larsen, Linfield, 57.26; 4. Tenille Johnson, Wheaton (Mass.), 57.49; 5. Melissa Baker, Bridgewater (Va.), 58.51; 6. Kyrstin Bodenburg, Wis.-River Falls, 59.22.

800-meter run: 1. Leah Juno, Wis.-Stevens Point, 2:12.11; 2. Heidi Brenden, Concordia-M'head, 2:13.48; 3. Jessica Dober, Wis.-La Crosse, 2:13.55; 4. Liz Woodworth, Wis.-Oshkosh, 2:14.05; 5. Niara Woods, Wheaton (Mass.), 2:14.13; 6. Stephanie Moss, Ohio Wesleyan, 2:14.50.

1,500-meter run: 1. Heidi Wolfsberger, Moravian, 4:34.26; 2. Courtney Clinard, Neb. Wesleyan, 4:36.97; 3. Amanda Laytham, Ithaca, 4:37.44; 4. Nicole Cueno, Grinnell, 4:37.74; 5. Megan Daymont, St. Olaf, 4:37.96; 6. Kate Irvin, Middlebury, 4:38.42.

5,000-meter run: 1. Maggie Hanson, Hamilton, 16:59.07; 2. Casey Smith, Roanoke, 17:06.99; 3. Johanna Olson, Luther, 17:10.21; 4. Michelle Kelly, Cortland St., 17:22.75; 5. Mary Proulx, Keene St., 17:28.29; 6. Becky Lebak, Wis.-Stevens Point, 17:28.81.

55-meter high hurdles: 1. Rhondale Jones, Lincoln (Pa.), 7.85 (meet record: old record, 7.99, Janet Williams, Springfield, 1986); 2. Rita Forte, Williams, 7.99; 3. Tenille Johnson, Wheaton (Mass.), 8.11; 4. Erica DiStefano, Col. of New Jersey, 8.19; 5. Laura Janesch, Neb. Wesleyan, 8.25; 6. Paulette Baldwin, Lehman, 8.29.

1,600-meter relay: 1. Wheaton (Mass.) (Tenille Johnson, Niara Woods, Jacqui Martinelli, Amber James), 3:50.64; 2. Cortland St., 3:51.80; 3. Wis.-La Crosse, 3:53.24; 4. Wis.-Oshkosh, 3:55.19; 5. Neb. Wesleyan, 3:57.72; 6. Loras, 3:59.70.

Distance medley relay: 1. Luther (Siri Thompson, Jaimie Rasmussen, Jenarah Tekippe, Johanna Olson), 11:55.81 [meet record: old record, 11:59.46, Williams (Katie Sharff, Colleen Doody, Katie Worth, Tara Crowley), 2000]; 2. Wis.-La Crosse, 12:00.67; 3. Wis.-Stevens Point, 12:01.45; 4. Middlebury, 12:03.27; 5 Tufts, 12:04.18; 6. Moravian, 12:06.52.

High jump: 1. Erica DiStefano, Col. of New Jersey, 1.76 (5-9 1/4); 2. Ginger Kincaid, Fredonia St., 1.71 (5-7 1/4); 3. Kristy Laramee, Middlebury, 1.71 (5-7 1/4); 4. Beth Grzybowski, John Carroll, 1.66 (5-5 1/4); 5. Jackie Kaup, Ohio Northern, 1.66 (5-5 1/4); 6. Carrie Danielewicz, Wis.-Oshkosh, 1.66 (5-5 1/4).

Pole vault: 1. Laura Rosenberger, East. Mennonite, 3.62 (11-10 1/2); 2. Ellen Findlay, Wis.-La Crosse, 3.62 (11-10 1/2); 3. (tie) Kelly Bowen, Neb. Wesleyan, and Caroline Boatz, St. Benedict, 3.47 (11-4 1/2); 5. Kim Baier, Augustana (Ill.), 3.47 (11-4 1/2); 6. Niki Riemer, Wis.-Oshkosh, 3.47 (11-4 1/2).

Long jump: 1. Katie Brees, Central (Iowa), 5.82 (19-1 1/4); 2. Kim Jones, Wheaton (Mass.), 5.82 (19-1 1/4); 3. Shimera Daniels, Wheaton (Mass.), 5.74 (18-10); 4. Susan DeNigris, North Central, 5.67 (18-7 1/4); 5. Kenneisha Reid, Wm. Paterson, 5.61 (18-5); 6. Nicole Pronschinske, Wis.-River Falls, 5.60 (18-4 1/2).

Triple jump: 1. Shimera Daniels, Wheaton (Mass.), 11.88 (38-11 3/4); 2. Jill Kincaid, Wis.-Oshkosh, 11.84 (38-10 1/4); 3. Mary Jo Kuntz, Wis.-La Crosse, 11.50 (37-8 3/4); 4. Jody Butkowski, Wis.-Stevens Point, 11.42 (37-5 3/4); 5. Bridget McCann, Geneseo St., 11.30 (37-1); 6. Breanna McMullen, Wis.-La Crosse, 11.24 (36-10 1/2).

Shot put: 1. Sara Nauman, Loras, 14.77 (48-5 1/2) [meet record: old record, 14.53 (47-8), Kim Kiner, Loras, 1997]; 2. Healy Thompson, Williams, 14.41 (47-3 1/2); 3. April Haney, Eastern Ore., 13.91 (45-7 3/4); 4. Tabitha Fendrick, Wis.-Whitewater, 13.61 (44-8); 5. Sarah Shoffstall, Baldwin-Wallace, 13.53 (44-4 3/4); 6. Jackie Luehmann, Gust. Adolphus, 13.39 (43-11 1/4).

20-pound weight throw: 1. Jessica Kohlman, Wis.-Whitewater, 17.88 (58-8) [meet record: old record, 17.24 (56-6 3/4), April Felt, Hamline, 2000]; 2. Healy Thompson, Williams, 17.37 (57-0); 3. Princess Imoukhuede, MIT, 17.16 (56-3 3/4); 4. April Haney, Eastern Ore., 16.82 (55-2 1/4); 5. Bobbi Erickson, Wis.-Platteville, 16.65 (54-7 1/2); 6. Leah Merrell, Eastern Ore., 16.55 (54-3 3/4).