BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –
Grace Devanny '23 was crowned the 2023 NCAA Division III Indoor Champion in the 400 meter after placing first with a school record time of 54.96 seconds. With the mark, Devanny becomes just the fifth athlete in program history to win a National Championship and just the second sprinter in team history to do so. Her winning time is just the third sub-55 second performance in the history of the NCAA Div. III Indoor Championships while the time is the fifth-fastest in NCAA Div. III history.
Devanny joins a list that includes Ivie Uzamere '20 (weight throw), Ellen Davis '07 (5000m), Jenna Flateman '04 (55m), and Karen Borza '84 (1500m) as the only National Championship performers in team history.
Her journey to glory started on Friday in preliminary action where she placed first overall with a time of 55.97 seconds, qualifying for Saturday's final. Coming in as the #1 overall seed in the event, Devanny was one of four sprinters in section 2 of the 400m finals on Saturday. Despite being challenged by Lauren Phillips of Johns Hopkins throughout, Devanny held her off and pulled away in the final stretch to take the NCAA Championship.
Incredibly, Devanny wasn't finished on the day as she also qualified for the finals of the 200m after posting the second-fastest qualifying time in preliminaries on Friday at 24.63 seconds. With the finals of the 200m just an hour after the 400m, Devanny dug in and placed fifth with a time of 24.59 seconds that earned her All-American honors, the sixth of her already illustrious track & field career.
The Cardinals also made history on Friday night with the distance medley relay. Already a history-making group, this marked the first time in team history that Wesleyan has ever qualified for a relay event at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Coming into Friday's event as the #12 seed, the Cardinals put together the race of a lifetime as
Jordan Walter '25,
Kenzie Kelly '25,
Maeve Hoffman '23, and
Jane Hollander '23 ran the event in a school record time of 11:51.33 to take eighth place and earn All-American honors. This is the highest-finishing relay group in team history at an NCAA Championship meet while Wesleyan's six total All-American honors at the 2023 NCAA Championships are a team record.
