BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (March 11, 2023) – Despite their best efforts, the Duhawks were unable to defend their first-ever NCAA Division III Indoor Championship, but the third-ranked Loras College women's track & field team earned an impressive third-place finish at this season's championship meet.

The Duhawks compiled 40.5 team points to place third in the two-day event at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala., placing them third out of 59 represented schools. The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse won the team championship with 59.5 points while Washington University (Mo.) took second place with 54 points.

Loras finished the meet with eight total All-America-worthy performances, including five on Saturday after sophomore Harmony Creasy (long jump), freshman Caitlyn Cox (weight throw), and senior Grace Alley (pentathlon) earned All-America status in Friday events (see Day 1 Recap).

Alley and Creasy were mainstays on the podium this weekend as Alley visited it twice more on Saturday. Alley placed third in the triple jump in one of Saturday's first events as her mark of 12.25 meters eclipsed her own school record and put her on her second of three podiums.

Creasy joined Alley on the triple jump awards stage as she took eighth place with an 11.75-meter mark, giving the sophomore two All-America honors as an individual. Those two accolades are her first as an individual in her college career.

Alley wasn't done earning hardware as she went straight from the triple jump to the high jump, where she finished in a four-way tie for fourth place with a best clearance of 1.66 meters. Her three All-America honors at this championship brings her career total (indoor and outdoor) to seven.

Loras had two more podium finishes on Saturday, both involving senior Alyssa Pfadenhauer. Pfadenhauer ran a 56.10 in the 400-meter finals to earn herself a sixth-place finish to mark her second All-America honor in the event in as many indoor season after she won the event at the JDL Fast Track a season ago.

The senior has also been a champion and an All-American in the 4x400-meter relay, and that trend continued this year as she and her teammates narrowly missed out on another title in the weekend's final event. Pfadenhauer was the final leg of the relay team that saw seniors Marion Edwards, Stevie Lambe, and Creasy give the Duhawks a chance at the title.

Pfadenhauer made a strong push down the final straightaway, but she came just a few steps shy of beating out the team from Rochester, who claimed the win with a 3:44.84 ahead of Loras' 3:45.01. Both times eclipsed the previous championship meet record as it gave Creasy her third All-America honor of the weekend.

While they fell short of the team title this time around, the third-place trophy is a welcomed addition to a crowded trophy case for the women's track & field program, which will now turn its attention to defending its three-straight NCAA Division III outdoor championships. Loras' title defense starts on Saturday, April 1 at the Wartburg College Select.