APPLETON, Wis. -- Lawrence University track and field standout Madeline Steininger is headed back to the NCAA Division III Championships.
Steininger (New Berlin, Wis./Milwaukee Pius XI), a junior, is one of a large field of 25 competitors in the high jump. The high jump takes place Saturday at Marietta College, where the meet begins on Thursday.
This is Steininger's second trip to the NCAA Championships, and her first time at the outdoor championships. Steininger was an All-American at the 2008 indoor championships at Ohio Northern University.
Steininger qualified for the championships with a jump of 5 feet, 5.25 inches, which won the title at the Midwest Conference Championships on May 8. That jump, which broke Vickie Leathers' school record of 5-4, is tied for the 16th-best jump in the nation.
In Steininger's only other NCAA Championships appearance, she earned All-America honors by tying for fifth place with a jump of 5-3.25. Steininger also holds Lawrence's indoor record at 5-5.
Steininger was the first Lawrence track athlete to be an All-American since Kolade Agbaje-Williams did it twice in the long jump in 2003, placing sixth at the NCAA Indoor Championships and eighth at the outdoor championships. She was Lawrence's first female All-American since Diana Ling won the long jump at the 1994 NCAA Indoor Championships.