Ritter Wins 3000-Meter Title At NCAA DII Championships
Photo by Reily Anderson courtesy of Lee Athletic Communications.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Celine Ritter made Lee University history as the first women's athlete to win an NCAA Division II Championship with a first-place performance in the 3000-meter run at the 2021 NCAA DII Indoor Track & Field Championships Saturday evening in the Birmingham CrossPlex.
Ritter crossed the finish line at 9:22.03 to edge Grand Valley State University's Hannah Roeske (9:23.07). Chloe Flora joined Ritter in the event and placed 10th with a time of 9:39.37.
Ritter was in fourth position following the first 200 meters and settled into second place for the next 2600 meters. With 200 meters remaining, she had slipped into third place, but overcame the 0.17-second deficit to cross the finish line first.
"My race plan was to hope that somebody would take the lead, so I could just sit and kick at the end," said Ritter. "I was pretty confident in the first 2K. Then with three laps to go two people passed me and I was probably getting nervous, but then I could kick in the last lap, so everything was fine."
The Lady Flames collected 10 points to finish tied for 19th with Concordia-St. Paul and Queens University of Charlotte. Grand Valley State was the team champion with 93 points and Minnesota State was second with 40 points.
Lee will now turn its attention to the outdoor season. Lee travels to Montevallo, Ala., on March 19-20 for the Montevallo Falcon Classic.
