Holding on for a third-place finish in the final of the women鈥檚 1,500-meter run at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, senior Maggie Congdon continued Northern Arizona University鈥檚 recent medal run.
Congdon鈥檚 bronze medal on Saturday became the sixth for Northern Arizona in the past five national outdoor championship meet, and the first for the women's team since 2018, when Brooke Anderson earned a silver in the hammer throw and Ashley Taylor won a bronze medal in the 800m run. For Congdon, the third-place finish in the 1500m follows the bronze medal she earned in the mile at this year's NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in March.
Running in a 1500m final that included a pair of 2024 Olympians -- Washington鈥檚 Sophie O'Sullivan, who represented Ireland, and Oregon鈥檚 Klaudia Kazimierska, who represented Poland -- as well as Oregon鈥檚 Silan Ayyildiz, who holds the Turkish national record in the mile, Congdon opened the race in the middle of the pack.
Escaping the traffic of the 12-woman field after roughly 600 meters, Congdon broke to the outside along the straightway and moved to the front of the pack alongside O'Sullivan with 800 meters remaining. Running stride for stride with O'Sullivan for the next 600 meters, Congdon remained in medal contention as Washington鈥檚 senior broke away for a gold medal. Virginia鈥檚 Margot Appleton made a push from the middle of the pack and passed Congdon on the final stretch, but Congdon held off Ayyildiz for the bronze.
Congdon鈥檚 4:09.31 beat Ayyildiz鈥檚 4:09.75, while O'Sullivan won gold in 4:07.94 and Appleton took silver in 4:08.99.
Congdon also held off Ayyildiz at the indoor championships, with her 4:32.88 mile time earning bronze and Ayyildiz鈥檚 4:33.98 placing fourth, with the two finishes earning her First Team All-American honors in 2025. Congdon鈥檚 six points in the race helped provide the Lumberjacks with a 34th-place finish overall at the outdoor championships.
Northern Arizona鈥檚 eight other athletes at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene finished with various All-American honors, led by senior David Mullarkey鈥檚 sixth-place finish in the men鈥檚 10,000m on Wednesday and junior Agnes McTighe鈥檚 seventh-place finish in the 5000m on Saturday.
Mullarkey鈥檚 time of 29:11.05 earned Northern Arizona鈥檚 men its three points in the outdoor championships as the team finished 58th overall, and he received First Team All-American honors. Senior Drew Bosley鈥檚 20th-place finish in 29:28.52 landed him All-American honorable mention. The two returned to the track on Friday night for the 5000m, with Mullarkey鈥檚 13:28.43 landing him as a Second Team All-American, while Bosley鈥檚 13:39.04 placed 17th for another All-American honorable mention.
Also on Wednesday, Lumberjacks senior Trevor Hook recorded a best throw of 67.84 meters to place 15th in the nation for Second Team All-American honors. Hook became the first male javelin thrower to reach the NCAA Outdoor National Championships in school history.
Landing in a slower first heat of the men鈥檚 1500m, junior Colin Sahlman finished 19th overall in the event with a time of 3:52.76 and All-American honorable mention. Villanova鈥檚 Liam Murphy, the collegiate record holder in the 1500m, finished just ahead of Sahlman in the heat for an 18th-overall finish at the meet despite setting that collegiate record on March 25.
On Thursday, senior LiNay Perry finished 20th in the preliminary round of the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 58.33 to earn an All-American honorable mention.
In addition to Congdon鈥檚 run on Saturday, McTighe, sophomore Ava Mitchell and sophomore Karrie Baloga earned All-American honors with the runs in the finals of the 5,000m and 3,000-meter steeplechase.
McTighe鈥檚 seventh-place finish in 15:35.87 was a top 10 time in school history for the 5000m and finished as a personal best to earn First Team All-American status. Ava Mitchell placed 22nd in the race with a 16:06.32 for an All-American honorable mention, and Baloga finished 12th in the 3000m steeple chase after qualifying for the final on Thursday. After running a 9:37.93 to place second in her heat and eighth overall at the meet, Baloga聽ran a 9:57.43 in the finals and earned Second Team All-American honors.