Division III NCAA Track & Field Championships
Thursday, May 25-Saturday, May 27
Polisseni Track & Field Complex | Pittsford, N.Y.
WHAT TO KNOW
• Babson junior Eric Bottern was selected to compete in the shot put at the 2023 NCAA Division III Championships last Friday.
• He will make his NCAA Championships debut on Friday morning in the prelims of the shot put.
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
• Bottern is one of 22 competitors that declared for the shot put and each will get three throws in the prelims starting at 1 p.m. on Friday.
• The top nine competitors will advance to the finals, where they will get three additional throws apiece.
THE ROAD TO ROCHESTER
• Bottern, who entered the season with the top nine throws in program history, has broken his own school record in the shot put seven times this spring and his top throw of 56-feet, 8.75-inches was the fourth best by a Division III competitor this season.
• He owns four victories and eight top-three finishes while taking part in the shot put at nine meets this season and is coming off a third-place showing at the NEICAAA Championships back on May 13.
• Bottern finished second in the shot put at the NEWMAC Championships and came in first at the New England Division III Championship on May 6.
RECORD-SETTING SPRING
• In addition to his success in the shot put, Bottern also holds school records in both the hammer and discus and recorded top-five finishes in all three events at the NEWMAC Championships back in April.
• He has reset his school mark of 155-feet, 11-inches in the hammer five times and recorded a throw of 140-feet, 1-inch to become the all-time record holder in the discus at MIT on April 22.
BABSON IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
• Katherine Jacobs '22 joined John Decker '18 as the only All-Americans in program history by playing eighth in the 100-meter hurdles at nationals last May. She also placed 18th in the 100-meter hurdle prelims in 2021.
• Decker twice qualified in the men's 800-meter run and finished fourth in the 2017 finals and 11th in the 2018 prelims.
• Dominic Esposito '15, the Beavers' first male qualifier, finished 15th in the decathlon in 2015, Marina Capalbo '15 for the women's 1500-meter run three times and Colin Cianciolo '22 competed in the prelims of the men's 400-meter run last season.
WHAT TO WATCH
• Five of the top seven finishers in the shot put at the 2022 NCAA Championships qualified for Friday's event, a group which includes defending national champion Joseph White of Carthage, Kevin Reuchel of Wisconsin-Stout, Hunter Logan of Utica and Yakob Ekoue of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
• White's throw of 61-feet, 3.8-inches is the best in Division III this season.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Each of the nine competitors to advance to last year's finals had a least one throw of better than 53-feet.
• Bottern is one of six declared athletes in the shot put with a throw of at least 55-feet, 10-inches this spring.
• White's claimed the national championship in last year's shot put with a throw of 58-feet, 6.75-inches.
