Kittle Reaches 400-Meter Final, Eaton Gets Second-Team All-America

LA CROSSE, WI - It was up-and-down day at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships for Wittenberg's student-athletes.

On Day 2 of the three-day event, things got started with a second-team All-America finish for sophomore Cayla Eaton (North Lewisburg, OH / Triad) and ended with sophomore Jack Kittle (Chagrin Falls, OH / Chagrin Falls) posting the second-fastest time in the 400-meter dash. In between, however, sophomore Kory Davis (Brookville, OH / Brookville) was one of four competitors in a heat of the 100-meter hurdles to bow out of the race midway through.

Davis, who ran the fastest time in the Great Lakes Region in the 2026 Outdoor season and earned All-America honors at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships with a sixth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles, hit a hurdle and was unable to finish his prelims heat. He was unhurt, fortunately, and he will come back tomorrow focused on running a leg of the 4x400-meter relay final.

A day after qualifying for the finals in the 200-meter dash, Kittle turned in a time of 46.75 seconds to win the third and final heat of the 400-meter dash. The top four runners in the third heat all represented North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) schools, and all four qualified for the finals. Kittle finished fifth in the event at the 2025 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships.

Kittle's time was the second-best across the event's three heats of prelims, behind only Grant Nelson of Bethel.

Eaton was making her first national championship appearance after a phenomenal 2025-26 season that included multiple individual NCAC titles across the indoor and outdoor championship meets. She qualified for the national championships with a personal-best mark of 1.69 meters in the high jump at the Augustana (IL) Midwest Twilight Final Qualifier on May 14, a mark that put Eaton 14th in the nation in the event.

Eaton cleared the opening heights of 1.59 meters and 1.64 meters before bowing out at 1.67 meters. She was one of three competitors to finish in a tie for 13th place - the top eight competitors earned first-team All-America, while the next eight earned second-team All-America.

The Tigers have not scored any team points in the meet yet, but that will likely change on the final day of the meet. Kittle will compete in the finals in both the 200 and 400, and the Tigers will also run in the 4x400-meter relay final.

Written By: Ryan Maurer