Written by John Majerus 

The Harper Hawks were able to celebrate as NJCAA D-III National Track and Field Champions once again! The women's team captured the title in convincing fashion scoring 138.5 points, 42.5 more than second place DuPage with 96. Illinois schools swept the podium as Joliet finished third with 77 points. This is the women's second championship title with their first being in 2011. 

The women's team was led by sophomores Fiona Metzo (/Palatine), Samira Rosenfeld (/Schaumburg) and Arianna Teichman (/Lake Zurich) as well as freshmen Lilly Alberts (/Richmond-Burton High School), Chloe Wintergerst (/Buffalo Grove High School), and Lily Wintergerst (/Buffalo Grove High School). Rosenfeld won the high jump, finished fourth in long jump, second in the 400m hurdles, and fourth in the 100m hurdles scoring 28 points. Lily Wintergerst (/Buffalo Grove High School) won the pole vault, finished sixth in triple jump, and finished seventh in long jump scoring 15 points. Chloe Wintergerst (/Buffalo Grove High School) was the pole vault runner-up and also placed sixth in the 100m hurdles scoring 11 points. Arianna Teichman (/Lake Zurich) was the hammer throw runner-up and finished sixth in discus scoring 11 points as well. Metzo won the 1500m and Alberts won the 800m setting a meet record with a time of 2:16.64, each scoring 10 points.

The Hawks also swept all three relays as they were the champions in 400m, 1600m, and 3200m relays. The 400m relay consisted of Araxi Boghossian (/Prospect High School), Rosenfeld, Svetlozara Uvakova (/Prospect High School), and Alberts. The 1600m relay consisted of Metzo, Boghossian, Rosenfeld, and Alberts, and the 3200m relay consisted of Metzo, Brianna Ruiz (/Wheeling High School), Melanie Kehr (/Wheeling High School), and Alberts.

Other Hawks that scored were Boghossian in the 400m taking third, Pola Kubrak (/Buffalo Grove) in high jump tying for third, Kehr in the 800m taking sixth, Kaili Decker (/Fremd High School) in the 1500m and 5k taking seventh and fourth, and Ruiz in the 5k taking seventh.

The men's team finished sixth, finishing with 65.6 points, missing third by 14.5 points. This was a major improvement upon last year's finish of eleventh. DuPage won the title with 144.5 points, Mineral Area took second with 130.5 points, and RC - Gloucester wound up third with 81 points.

Albert Szewczyk finished as the runner-up in the 10k and third in the 5k scoring 14 points. Jerette Passero had a pair of sixth place finishes scoring 6 points. Marcos Jaimes and Remington Jankusky went fourth and fifth in the 800m and scored 9 points together. Brenton Long and Marc Alday went fifth and sixth in the 400m and scored 7 points together. 

The men's relays also did well. The 400m relay finished third with an order of Mark Bavaro, Jaelyn Williams, Passero, and Timothy Bryant. The 1600m relay finished second with an order of Alday, Bavaro, Jaimes, and Long. The 3200m relay finished fourth with an order of Jaimes, Matthew Trybus, Zander Myers, and Jankusky. 

The Hawks plan to celebrate their victory but are also excited for the cross country season right around the corner!