New Jersey City University Athletics

It’s only fitting that Diana Lawson is the first women’s track and field athlete to be inducted into the NJCU Athletics Hall of Fame. Not only is Lawson arguably the greatest athlete in the history of the University, but the five-time individual national champion and 11-time All-American is among the top women’s track athletes ever to compete in Division III.
 
Lawson won three NCAA Division III Indoor national championships in the 55-meter dash in 2001, 2002 and 2004 and capped her career in 2005 by achieving a rare double championship feat—claiming national titles in the NCAA Division III Outdoor 100 and 200-meter dashes in the same meet.
 
She was named the 2005 NCAA Division III Championships Female Track Athlete of the Meet—an award equivalent to the National Player of the Year. She was voted the 2003-04 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Female Athlete of the Year and is one of only two athletes in school history to receive the league’s top annual award.
 
Lawson continues to own the NCAA Division III national record in the 55 meters—a mark of 6.93 seconds she etched into the record books on March 12, 2004 in the NCAA semifinals. She was later voted the 2003-04 United States Track Coaches (USTCAA) Atlantic Region Indoor Female Athlete of the Year.
 
Lawson owns the four fastest times in Division III history in the dash, including three at the NCAA meet, where she was the only woman to ever run the event in less than seven seconds until the 2010 season.
 
Lawson is a three-time winner of the NJAC’s Thomas M. Gerrity Most Outstanding Female Athlete award in 2001, 2002 and 2004—an honor equivalent to the league’s Player of the Year for indoor track. She was a two-time recipient of the NJAC Outstanding Female Track Athlete award in outdoor track in 2001 and 2002.
 
As an indoor track athlete, Lawson was a four-time NJAC champion in the 55-meter dash (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004) and three-time league winner in 200-meter dash (2001, 2002, 2004). Her NJAC records, all set in 2004, still stand in the 55 meters (7.13 seconds), 200-meters (24.77 seconds) and as leadoff of the 4x200-meter relay (1:41.04). In all, Lawson was a 12-time All-NJAC indoor recipient.
 
In three seasons competing in outdoor track as a member of the NJAC, she was a two-time conference champion in the 100 meters (2002, 2003) and 200-meters (2001, 2002) and the 2001 medalist in the 400-meter dash. In all, she was a six-time All-NJAC outdoor honoree.
 
In 2004-05 when NJCU competed as an independent institution, Lawson was honored as the Association of Division III Independents Female Student-Athlete of the Year for all sports.
 
When she won the 2003-04 55-meter dash title, she became only the 11th track athlete in Division III history to win any event three times in a career, only the second to do it in the 55-meter dash, and the first in 14 years. After setting the NCAA record in the 55-meters in the NCAA semifinals (6.93), she won the national title the next day in 6.97 seconds, a remarkable 14/100th of a second faster than the field—which is a very wide margin for a sprint event. Her 6.93 time had broken her own NCAA record of 6.98 seconds.
 
That season she also was a First-Team All-American as the anchor of the 4x400-meter relay team which finished sixth in the nation in 3:55.09. NJCU finished 14th overall in the nation, the best national finish of an NJAC-affiliated women’s sport in the history of the University.
 
As a freshman in 2000-01, she burst onto the scene, winning her first NCAA indoor championship with First-Team All-America distinction. On April 9, 2001, she appeared in Sports Illustrated’s ‘Faces in the Crowd.’ During the 2001 outdoor campaign, Lawson earned First-Team All-America status in two events, placing fifth at the NCAA championship in the 100 meters and seventh in the 200 meters.
 
As a sophomore in 2001-02, she repeated as both NCAA champion and as a First-Team All-America. During the 2002 outdoor season, she was a two-time First-Team All-American, placing third in both the 100 and 200 meters at the NCAA Championship. A May 8 ECAC Division III Track Athlete of the Week, she set two NJAC records during the season in the 100 meters (12.10 seconds, broken in 2008) and 200 meters (24.76 seconds, broken in 2006). On May 25, 2002 at the NCAA meet, she set a school record in the 200 meters of 24.08 seconds.
 
As a junior in 2002-03, she battled injuries and for the only time in her career did not win an indoor national title. Despite being hampered, she placed fifth in the 55 meters at the NCAA championship, earning First-Team All-America honors in the event for the third year in a row. She was limited during the 2003 outdoor campaign due to the injury which slowed her during the indoor season. Although she did not compete at the NCAAs, she did win the NJAC title in the 100 meters and placed second in the 200.
 
Lawson not only regained her health as a senior in 2003-04, she raised the bar, even by her standards. En route to winning a third NCAA indoor championship in the 55 meters, she earned First-Team All-America accolades in the 55 meters and 4x400-meter relay, concluding her career as a three-time indoor national champion and five-time All-America.
 
Lawson won ECAC titles and was First-Team All-ECAC in three events—the 55 meters and 4x200 and 4x400 relays and broke her own 2002 ECAC record in the 55 meters (7.09) when she won the 2004 crown in 7.05 seconds. She anchored the 4x200 relay team as it crushed the field in an ECAC record 1:42.62. She also claimed all or part of four NJAC titles, and set three conference records, all while leading the NJCU to a second place finish at the 2004 NJAC Indoor Championships. When won the NJAC 200-meter title by a staggering margin in 24.77 seconds, the second place time in the event was 25.39. She was a four-time ECAC Division III Track Athlete of the Week (January 27, Feb­ruary 10, February 23, March 2).
 
After electing not to compete during the 2004 outdoor season, she completed her eligibility in the Spring of 2005. At the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Championships, she became at the time just the 11th woman in the 24-year history of the cham­pionships to win titles in the 100 and 200 at the same meet, and the first to accomplish the feat since 2001. Her titles were the first individual NCAA national championships claimed in outdoor track and field in the history of the NJCU men’s and women’s programs. She was the only men’s or women’s participant at the NCAA meet to earn multiple championships in individual events. NJCU finished 10th overall in the team standings—its best outdoor finish in school history—with Lawson scoring 20 of the squad’s 25 points.
 
At the 2005 NCAA meet, she won the 100-meter dash title in 11.82 seconds after winning the preliminaries in 11.75 seconds. In the 200 meter national finals, her winning time of 24.10 seconds was the best mark in the country for that season and set a Wartburg Stadium record. NJCU did not compete in the NJAC during the 2005 season, but Lawson, who won the ECAC championship and was All-ECAC in the 200 meters and 4x100-meter relay, was a two-time ECAC Division III Track Athlete of the Week (March 29 and April 12) and voted the Association of Division III Independents Female Athlete of the Month.