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» ☀️ Good Monday Morning! As weekends go, this one was huge. 

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TOP STORY
1. Running Down A Dream

In a pair of nail-biters, the Pomona-Pitzer men and the Carleton women brought home the team championship trophies from the 2023 NCAA Division III cross country championship.

The eighth-ranked Sagehens won their third national championship since 2019 with a thrilling one-point triumph (158-159) over top-ranked UW-La Crosse. Lucas Florsheim led the way for Pomona-Pitzer with a ninth-place individual finish, while Derek Fearon was right on his heels for a top-10 placing.

The Eagles were led by individual champion Ethan Greeg who covered the 8k course in 24:02. Second-ranked North Central (Ill.) was third just 11 points back (169) of the Californians, while Williams (212) and Wartburg (232) rounded out the top five.

No. 2 Carleton won its first-ever national title with a three-point win (151-154) over top-ranked NYU. The top four teams were within seven points of one another, as No. 5 Chicago and No. 6 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps finished with 156 and 158 points, respectively.

The Knights were led by Hannah Preisser and Phoebe Ward who placed 14th and 16th, respectively. Saint Benedict’s Fiona Smith took home individual honors in a time of 19:54.1.

» Meet Results

FIELD HOCKEY
2. Lazar Lifts Middlebury To 6th Straight Crown

Audrey Lazar scored both goals and a defense that did not allow a goal during the tournament shut the door as Middlebury (22-0) defeated Johns Hopkins,
2-0, to capture its sixth consecutive NCAA Division III field hockey crown.

It is the eighth championship in program history and the third consecutive year that the Panthers have dispatched the Blue Jays (21-1) in the national final.

Lazar scored just 84 seconds into the contest and added an insurance goal with less than six minutes remaining in the third period. GK KK Newton made five saves. She is the third goalie in NCAA championship history to not concede a goal throughout the entire tournament.

» Read More

SOCCER
3. Set For Salem

The final eight teams are set to travel to Salem, Va., for the 2023 NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Soccer championships on December 1-3.

Men

Washington College blanked Connecticut College, 1-0, to advance to its first Final Four in program history. The Shoremen (14-2-6) will take on St. Olaf in one semifinal, after the Oles (18-3-3) took out defending national champion Chicago, 2-1. Amherst (17-2-3) moved onto the national semis with a 1-0 shutout win against NESCAC rival Middlebury, while Washington and Lee (15-4-5) outlasted Colorado College in PKs to reach Salem.

» Bracket

Women

Unranked Cal Lutheran (18-1-5) shocked the DIII world, ousting top-ranked and undefeated Christopher Newport in penalties. CLU will meet Tufts (11-5-4) in the next round after the Jumbos shut out Rochester, 1-0. The weekend’s wildest affair saw Washington U. (17-1-3) and UW-La Crosse battle to a 4-4 draw before the Bears advanced in penalties. Next up for WashU will be Messiah (21-2) after the Falcons whitewashed John Carroll, 1-0.

» Bracket

VOLLEYBALL
4. California, Here We Come

The eight teams for the final rounds of the 2023 NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball championship are set and bound for California.

Johns Hopkins (28-4) d. Wesleyan, 25-23, 25-11, 25-23
Hope (30-2) d. Transylvania, 25-19, 21-25, 25-20, 17-25, 15-10
Trinity TX (31-4) d. Emory, 18-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-23
Claremont-M-S (25-5) d. MIT, 25-13, 25-17, 25-17
NYU (32-4) d. Ithaca, 25-22, 28-26, 25-23
Juniata (32-0) d. Mary Washington, 25-18, 25-20, 25-12
Northwestern (32-4) d. UW-Whitewater, 20-25, 21-25, 30-28, 28-26, 15-11
UW-Oshkosh (37-1) d. La Verne, 18-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-22

Quarterfinals: Oshkosh vs. Claremont; Hope vs. Johns Hopkins; Juniata vs. Trinity; NYU vs. Northwestern.

» Bracket

NEWS
5. Lightning Round

🏈 Football. The first round of the NCAA Division III championship saw one top-10 team fall by the wayside as No. 21 Grove City nipped No. 10 Susquehanna, 21-20, on a touchdown and extra point with :07 remaining. The teams ranked 1-4 had easy times of it in their openers, winning by an average of 49.25 points. Here is a recap of the weekend action from D3football.com

🏀 Basketball. Congrats to DePauw basketball coach Kris Huffman who became the fourth active DIII women’s coach with 700 victories after the Tigers downed Calvin, 76-48.

👨‍🏫 Faculty. Tip of the cap to St. Norbert’s Charley Jacobs on his recognition as Division III FAR of the Year.

TRANSACTIONS
6. Comings and Goings

• ADRIAN - Joe Palka named head football coach

• COLBY - Jake Bernhardt named head men’s lacrosse coach

• EAST TEXAS BAPTIST - Chad Cox stepped down as head men’s soccer coach

• McDANIEL - Jeremy Shepherd named director of athletics

• WEBSTER - Morgan Mansur and Robin Jones named interim co-head softball coaches

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