RESULTS

LA CROSSE, Wis. – Powered by a pair of individual national championship finishes, the Calvin women's track and field team took fourth place at the NCAA III Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday.

It marks the first time since 2007 that Calvin women's track and field has produced a top-four team podium finish.

Calvin produced four All-America finishes on Saturday including a pair of sprint national championships from graduate student Sydney Radigan who claimed titles in the 100 meter dash and 200 meter dash.

Radigan also anchored Calvin's 4x100 meter relay to a seventh place finish while senior Sophie Bull, fresh off her national title in the steeplechase the night before, punched through for a fifth place finish in the 5,000 meter run to help cement Calvin's top-four team finish.

Seeded eighth heading into Saturday, Calvin's 4x100 meter relay team of freshman Rayn Rutley (Fenton, Mich./Fenton HS), senior Mia DeJonge (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS), sophomore Alison Bailey and Radigan placed seventh in a time of 46.50, just behind sixth place Colby (46.46) and fifth place North Carolina Wesleyan (46.45). The relay finish marked Calvin's first 4x100 All-America (top-eight) finish since 2006. Serving as an alternate for the relay was freshman Kaitlyn DiMaggio (Dearborn, Mich./Dearborn HS).

"The 4x100 was extremely competitive this year and I'm pleased with the performance of our relay today," said Calvin head track and field coach Adam Haldorson. "They did a great job of working together under pressure and coming home with a top-eight finish. I also want to acknowledge Kaitlyn DiMaggio who has been a part of the relay for most of the year and was at the ready if she was needed. It was a team effort that got the relay to this conclusion."

An hour-and-a-half later, Radigan toed the line in the 100 meter dash, holding the event's top seed. Radigan lived up to the seed, getting off to a strong start, grabbing the lead just past the 50-meter mark and never looking back. Radigan finished the race with a winning time of 11.48. Michaina Loriston of Wheaton (Mass.) made an early bid to run with Radigan in lane one but faded to third with Isabel Peterson of Wisconsin-Platteville making a large charge to take second in 11.63.

"I was behind the finish line watching that race," said Haldorson. "When I saw Sydney come up out of the blocks with the rest of the field I knew she had a great chance to win. We've worked hard at her starts in the short sprints which has been her weakness. Today she came up quick and cleanly and ran to a huge win."

One hour later, Radigan was ready again in the 200 meters. Seeded fourth in lane seven, she surged out the blocks, grabbed the lead at the turn and powered through the final stretch to win the race in an NCAA III Championships and Calvin record time of 23.43. The winning time is the second-fastest in NCAA III women's track and field history. Isabel Peterson who had beaten Radigan in the finals of the 200 meters indoors in March, took second in 23.63 with Miranda Cole of Dehli State of New York third in 23.81.

"We took nothing for granted in the 200," said Haldorsen. "We had some memories from the indoor meet in March so it was complete focus on the task at hand. When Sydney hit the curve in the lead, I knew she was in good shape. From that point, she pushed out the lead to win in probably the finest race of her life."

In a post-meet interview with the NCAA media team, Radigan offered words of gratitude for the Calvin University track and field program that she has been a part of for the last two years. "I have loved being at Calvin. The culture with this program is amazing," said Radigan. "I have loved competing with my teammates at this meet and several of my teammates who were not competing drove out this weekend to support us. I love Calvin and I love this team. The support from everyone has been amazing."

Radigan's double (national title) is the second for Calvin at an NCAA III Outdoor Track and Field Championships meet with Rachel Boerner also claiming national crowns in a 60-minute span at the 2010 national meet when she won the 400 meters and 400 meter hurdles at Baldwin-Wallace University in Berea, Ohio.

She joins teammate Sophie Bull (Denver, Co./Denver Christian HS) as a three-time individual event champion in track and field with Radigan also winning the 60 meter dash indoor national title this past March. She is the first Calvin national champion in either then 100 or 200 meter dash events.

Bull still had a race left in the tank and delivered key points, placing fifth in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 16:32.98. The finish was worth four points and pushed Calvin into third place at the conclusion of the race in the team standings and ultimately allowed the Knights to secure fourth place when the meet was over.

Bull's race came after back-to-back nights of steeplechase races, both prelim and finals. She was one of several competitors attempting to double in the 5K with individuals coming off of earlier races in the 10K, steeplechase and 1500 meters. Concordia senior Ainar Sainz De Rozas grabbed the early lead and won the race by a 15-second margin in 16:08.15 while Elle Marsyla of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps was second in 16:23.44. The top two finishers moved out ahead early with the rest of the pack, jostling for the remaining top-eight All-America finishes.

Bull sat in a pack of eight runners but moved into the top five with two-and-a-half laps remaining. She grabbed third in the final lap but then was caught in a final three-way fight for the third place spot with Peyton Steffen of Central taking third in 16:32.38, Gabriella Nye of Widener taking fourth (16:32.77) and Bull fifth with the rest of the pack three seconds or more behind them.

It marked the first time Bull has posted a pair of top-eight individual finishes at an NCAA III Championships meet and was the first outdoor All-America finish in the 5,000 meters. She finishes her Calvin career as a nine-time All-American (XC-2, ITF-3, OTF-4).

"Sophie ran a very courageous race," said Haldorson. "She left everything she had on the track today after running two tough steeplechase races (Thursday and Friday). We knew that if she could finish in spots 5-6, we would have a chance to be on the podium as a team and she delivered for the team as she has done throughout her career. An amazing collegiate career for Sophie and a great way to finish it out."

Calvin finished with a final team score of 36 points, two points behind third place Johns Hopkins and two points ahead of fifth place Centre. Host Wisconsin-La Crosse won the team title with 53 points with Washington University of St. Louis second with 42 points.

The fourth-place finish punctuates a remarkable rise with the program with Haldorson as the Knights took second and then third in the MIAA outdoor conference meets in his first two years (2023 and 2024) as head coach. Under his watch, Calvin followed with back-to-back MIAA indoor and outdoor crowns in 2025 and 2026 with the women's team taking sixth at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March and fourth at the NCAA III Outdoor Championships this weekend.

"My wife Rachel (Haldorson) and I are just grateful to be a part of Calvin University and this track and field program," said Haldorson. "We have great student-athletes who love to work and love to compete at an amazing university that happens to have an outstanding tradition in track and field. Finishing in the top-four nationally is not something that happens every year so we are certainly going to enjoy this for now but we are also looking forward to the future and continuing to be a part of this great community."

NOTES: The Calvin women's track and field team has now had five individual national championship finishes in outdoor track and field at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (Betsy Haverkamp/3K, 1997; Nicole Michmerhuizen/10K, 2013;Sophie Bull/steeplechase, 2026; Sydney Radigan/100 and 200 meters, 2026). The only other track and field complex that has netted Calvin more individual national titles is Baldwin-Wallace University with six which includes: Angie Feinauer/long jump,1993; 4x100 Relay (Patsy Orkar, Angie Feinauer/Kathy Haddox/Shawn Farmer, 1993; Megan Pierce/400 meters, 1999; 4x400 Relay (Lindsay Mulder, Sara Veltkamp, Kristi VanWoerkom, Megan Pierce), 1999; Rachel Boerner/400 Meters & 400 Meter hurdles, 2010)…….Calvin has now posted eight top-four national team finishes in women's outdoor track and field…..the All-America 4x100 relay was Calvin's first All-America relay finish in women's track and field since 2008…..Calvin has now produced 24 individual event national champions in women's track and field including 20 in outdoor track and field.....the MIAA (men's and women's) had 5 individual event national champions at the meet with Radigan (100 & 200 meters) and Bull (3K steeplechase) winning titles for Calvin, Sara Schemerhorn of Hope wining the women's 400 meter dash national title and Owen Fremeau of Olivet winning the national title in the men's hammer throw.....Bull finished her career with four individual national track titles including three in 2026.....Radigan finished her career with three individual national titles....all in 2026. 

CALVIN WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD TOP FOUR NATIONAL TEAM FINISHES

1993 (4th place) - Outdoor
1994 (3rd place) - Outdoor
1999 (4th place) - Outdoor
2001 (2nd place) - Outdoor
2004 (2nd place -  Outdoor
2005 (2nd place) - Outdoor
2007 (2nd place) - Outdoor
2026 (4th place) -  Outdoor