Local colleges send athletes to Division III NCAA Track and Field Championships

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A number of local athletes at Portland area universities are sending athletes to compete at the 2025 Division III NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Geneva, Ohio.

The top 16 relay teams and top 22 individual competitors in the nation receive invites to the national meet based on their fastest times this season. George Fox has the most runners attending the championships this year with 10 qualifiers.

The men’s team is sending three decathletes, Blake Smith, Thomas McMillan, and Max Ashour, as well as Aidan Arthur in the 1500 meters, Darrin Campbell in the javelin, and James King in the high jump. All except one of these athletes are attending nationals for the first time ever.

On the women’s side, three All-Americans will return for the Bruins: Ellie Corwin (javelin), Grace Tully (pole vault) and Ellie Rising (800m, 1500m). They will be joined by Jenna Huntsman (heptathlon) in her first NCAA Championship meet.

Linfield’s Kira Hawaaboo is heading back to nationals in the long jump which earned her All-American honors last year and will also make her first appearance in the heptathlon. She will look to best last year’s jump, which landed her in sixth place in the nation.

Currently the No. 8 seed in the women’s 100m hurdles, Pacific’s Ally Hammond makes another NCAA championship appearance coming off a second-place finish in the 60m hurdles at the indoor nationals earlier this year. She set a school and Northwest Conference record at the George Fox Last Chance meet on May 15 with a time of 14.03 seconds.

These nationals will be Lewis & Clark senior Riley Buese’s seventh career national meet where she will take on both the 5k and 10k distance races. She is currently a six-time All-American and if she places well in Ohio, Buese will set a program record for number of All-American honors.

Two athletes from Willamette University will make an appearance at the NCAA’s, sophomore Steeley Mucken in the javelin and junior Erica Snyder in the high jump.

The 2025 DIII Outdoor Track and Field championships begin May 22-24 at the SPIRE Institute in Ohio.