With an exhilarating triumph in the 4x400m relay, the MIT women’s track and field squad secured the 2025 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field National Championship on May 24 at the SPIRE Institute’s Outdoor Track and Field venue. This title marked MIT’s inaugural NCAA women’s outdoor track and field national championship. The team finished first out of 79 with a total of 56 points; the runners-up were Washington University with 47 points and the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with 38 points.
This victory allowed MIT to achieve a complete sweep of the 2024-25 NCAA Division III women’s cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field championships — becoming the first women’s program to accomplish this feat within a single year.
MIT garnered 20 All-America accolades across the three-day event, including the program’s maiden relay national championship in the 4x400m on Saturday and Alexis Boykin’s eighth career national title with a record-breaking performance in the shot put on Friday.
Kicking off the championships on Thursday, Boykin secured third place in the discus, propelling MIT to the forefront of the team leaderboard on the first day of events. Both Boykin and her teammate Emily Ball ascended to the podium. Boykin achieved third with a throw of 45.12m (148′ 0″) on her second attempt, while Ball placed seventh with a mark of 41.90m (137′ 5″) on her final prelim throw.
In the pole vault, junior Katelyn Howard tied for fifth, clearing a height of 3.85m (12′ 7.5″) to collect three points for MIT. Howard passed on the initial height and successfully cleared both 3.75m and 3.85m but was unable to clear the subsequent height. Classmate Hailey Surace finished in 14th with a clearance of 3.75m (12′ 3.5″).
Junior Elaine Wang secured a crucial point for MIT with an eighth-place finish in the javelin. Wang’s second attempt soared to 40.44m (132′ 8″), elevating her to sixth place, where she ultimately finished.
The first day wrapped up with junior Kate Sanderson claiming fourth place with a personal best of 34:48.601 in the 10,000m, earning her a spot on the podium as MIT maintained its lead in the team standings.
On Friday, Boykin returned for day two, shattering the NCAA Division III women’s shot put all-time record and clinching her eighth national championship with a throw of 16.80m (55’ 1/2”). Boykin won the event by over two meters, eclipsing Robyn Jarocki’s NCAA Division III record on her last preliminary attempt with a throw of 16.80m.
MIT concluded its events with the 3,000m Steeplechase final, where sophomore Liv Girand achieved a 10th place finish in 10:58.71, earning the first All-America accolade of her career. MIT continued to lead the team standings at the conclusion of the second day of competition.
On Saturday, Boykin secured her third All-America honor across three events in the championships with a third-place finish in the hammer, achieving a throw of 58.79m (192′ 10”), while junior Nony Otu Ugwu took 10th place with a jump of 11.91m (39′ 1″) on her final attempt in prelims. Otu Ugwu did not qualify for the final.
MIT excelled on the track to clinch the title, as graduate student Gillian Roeder and senior Christina Crow accumulated seven vital points in the 1,500m final. Roeder finished fifth in 4:27.76, while Crow closely followed in sixth at 4:28.81.
Following this, senior Marina Miller added six further points and earned one of her two All-America honors for the day by finishing third with a personal best of 54.32 in the 400m.
Juniors Rujuta Sane, Roeder, and Kate Sanderson concluded the 5,000m in 13th, 14th, and 16th places, respectively. Sane recorded a time of 16:51.45, Roeder finished in 16:54.07, and Sanderson clocked in at 17:00.55.
With MIT leading second-place Washington University by seven points before the final event, MIT’s 4×4 relay team consisting of senior Olivia Dias, junior Shreya Kalyan, junior Krystal Montgomery, and Miller firmly established their superiority, securing the team championship with a national title of their own, as Miller surged from third to first in the last 50m to triumph in an electrifying final race.