FINAL RESULTS

PUEBLO, Colo. – Celine Ritter recorded first and third place finishes Saturday evening to tally 16 points and lead the Lee University Women's Track & Field team to a 19^th-place finish at the 2023 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Cale Kassen helped the Flames tie for 49^th with a sixth-place finish of his own.

The team placement was the program's best for the Lady Flames in the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Previously the Lee women tied for 26^th in 2022 and were 28^th in 2021.

Ritter began the evening in the 1500-meter final. At the 700-meter mark of the race, she was 10^th among the tightly bunched pack. Over the next 400 meters, Ritter improved seven spots to third and covered the final 400 meters in 1:02.09 to stop the clock at 4:36.09 and claim the national championship by 1.52 seconds over Katie Fankhouser of Fort Lewis.

Aria Hawkins joined Ritter in the 1500 final and finished just out of scoring position at No. 9 with a time of 4:40.24. Hawkins was in 11^th following the first 700 meters and moved into ninth at the 1100 mark.

Just over two hours later, Ritter competed in the 5000-meter run final. She was in 12^th place 1400 meters into the race and made up five positions in the next 1600 meters. Ritter gained two more positions after the next lap and moved into fourth with 1200 meters (three laps) remaining. She covered the final lap in 1:10.85 to pass Florance Uwajaneza of West Texas A&M and complete the run at 16:43.39 for third place. Winona State's Lindsay Cunningham was first (16:23.08) and Brianna Robles of Adams State was seconds at 16:25.42.

Sandwiched between was Kassen in the 110-meter hurdles. The freshman placed sixth with a time of 13.70 seconds to record three team points. Cordell Tinch of Pittsburg State was the event winner after crossing at 12.87 seconds.

With their performances tonight, the Lee University Track & Field program added four more NCAA Division II All-Americans to its list. Ritter earned First Team All-American in both the 1500 and 5000, while Kassen added another First Team All-American honor in the 110 hurdles. With her ninth-place finish, Hawkins attained Second Team All-American recognition.