From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

It took one of the greatest performances in NCAA Division 3 history to deny Rowan a national championship.

Rowan scored 85 points this weekend in the NCAA Division 3 Championships, 5th-most in meet history under the current scoring system, which went into effect in 1985 and enough to win the last 17 national titles. But you can’t play defense in track and field, and host Wisconsin-La Crosse scored a record 106 to lock up its 3^rd straight win and 18^th overall.

The 2^nd-place finish is Rowan’s best since they won their 5^th straight national title in 1984.

This is Rowan’s 5^th straight top-5 finish and 15^th overall. The Profs won five straight outdoor titles from 1980 through 1984.

Rowan’ 85 points are the most ever by a non-winning team under the current scoring system. Mount Union scored 100 when the Purple Raiders placed 2^nd to Rowan in 1984 at Carleton, Minn., but that’s when the NCAA scored 12 places instead of the current eight.

The previous high for a 2^nd-place team under the current scoring system was 76 by Lincoln University of Lower Oxford Township, Chester County, in the 1993 meet in Berea, Ohio.

So this was an all-time performance by the Profs. Just not quite enough to topple mighty Wisconsin-La Crosse on its home track, a mile east of the Minnesota border.

Rowan competed short-handed after indoor national 3,000 and 5,000 national champion Seth Clevenger  scratched from the meet with an injury and Rowan’s deep crew of four long jumpers failed to score on Thursday. That put Rowan in a hole it never recovered from, although the Profs kept things close all weekend.

Rowan set five school records and scored 21 points in the high jump, 14 in the two relays, 14 in the 200, 11 in the high hurdles, 10 in the javelin, six in the 100, five in the 800 and four in the intermediates.

In the high jump, freshman David Brown from Edison won at 7-0 ½, sophomore Noah Wampole from Radnor took 3^rd at 6-11 ½ and junior Jamile Gantt from Paulsboro was 4^th with a 6-10 ¼ clearance.

Junior Dametrius Hester from Mahwah contributed 10 points with a win in the javelin with the No. 2 throw in Division 3 history, 245-10, and Rowan added a couple seconds on Saturday with the 400-meter relay team – including Kingsway’s Evan Corcoran, Penns Grove’s Eli Hendricks and Eastern’s Rajahn Dixon – running 39.56, No. 5 in D-3 history, and senior hurdler Kwaku Nkrumah running 13.76 in the 110-meter highs. Senior Jason Agyamang added three points in the hurdles in 6^th place.

Also Saturday, Dixon, Hendricks and Corcoran went 2-4-8 in the 200, giving Rowan an additional 14 points, Corcoran was 3^rd in the 100 in 10.30, Glassboro’s Dallas Hohney placed 4^th in the 800 in 1:49.68 and Sterling’s Samuel Agbessi placed 6^th in the 400-meter hurdles in 52.21. The Profs closed out the meet with a school-record and the 15^th-fastest time in D-3 history in the 4-by-4.

The school records came in the 4-by-1 , 4-by-4, 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and javelin.

The only seniors who scored are hurdlers Jason Agyemang and Kwaku Nkrumah and sprinter Evan Corcoran. Everyone else has additional outdoor eligibility.

Most points in meet history
[current scoring system, since 1985]
106 … Wisconsin-La Crosse, 2026 [1st]
101 … Wisconsin-La Crosse, 2004 [1st]
97 … Wisconsin-La Crosse, 1993 [1st]
91 … North Central [Ill.], 1998 [1st]
85 … Rowan, 2026 [2nd]
80 … Lincoln [Pa.], 1995 [1st]

Here’s a look at Rowan’s top-10 finishes in meet history:
Rowan Top-10 Finishes
2^nd … 1978
2^nd … 1979
1^st … 1980
1^st … 1981
1^st … 1982
1^st … 1983
1^st … 1984
8^th … 1985
9^th … 1996
T8^th … 1997
5^th … 1998
8^th … 2012
T7^th … 2017
3^rd … 2018
4^th … 2021
T5^th … 2022
T3^rd … 2023
T3^rd … 2024
3^rd … 2025
2^nd … 2026