MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (May 24, 2024) – Graduate student Laura Mathews of the Stevens Institute of Technology women's outdoor track and field team earned her ninth career All-America honor with a fifth-place finish in the heptathlon Friday on the second day of the 2024 Division III Outdoor Track and Field National Championships. Mathews is the first Duck to earn All-America recognition in a multi event at nationals.

After accumulating 4,823 points at the TCNJ Invitational and Multi to shatter a nine-year record in mid-April, the Denville, New Jersey product totaled 4,906 points across the seven events to break her own record. Mathews finished fifth out of 22 competitors, with three of the four student-athletes that finished ahead of her each set new personal best and one had a season best. Loras' Grace Alley, the top seed entering the event, won the gold medal with 5,289 points, with Emory's Nikki Boon taking the silver with 5,251. Carnegie Mellon's Elizabeth Barre captured bronze with 5,045 points as the top three seeded competitors entering the national championship meet finished in the same order. Eastern Mennonite's Ray Ray Taylor, who entered the meet ranked 12th, had a season-best 5,026 points to finish fourth. 

Right before her final event in the heptathlon, Mathews ran the preliminary race in the 100-meter hurdles. For the second time this season, Mathews completed what is arguably her best event in 13.61 seconds, matching her school record and matching the second-fastest time in Division III history, however, as it was at the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Outdoor Championships, the race was contested with a tailwind that exceeded the 2.0 m/s threshold – Friday's race was held with a +2.3 wind mark. Mathews' time was six-hundredths-of-a-second ahead of her closest competitor and will enter Saturday's national championship race as the top overall seed. Interestingly, four of the eight qualifiers for Saturday's final came from the second heat, while two came from the first and third heats; Mathews ran in heat one.

In terms of both placement and points across Friday's three events, Mathews' top finish was in the 800-meter run, where she completed the race in 2:25.21 to place seventh and earn 754 points. Mathews also hit 27.87 meters in the javelin and reached 5.16 meters in the long jump, placing 11th and 13th, respectively. She set new personal bests in the javelin and the 800.

The fifth-place finish was Mathews' third outdoor All-America accolade.

Up Next: Mathews concludes the national championship meet Saturday with the 100-meter hurdles final, where she holds the top overall seed. The race is scheduled for approximately 4:50 p.m. and links for live stats and video are posted to StevensDucks.com.

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