JERSEY CITY, NJ…After culminating her career as a five-time national champion, and an 11-time All-America recipient by winning both the 100 and 200-meter dash titles at the 2005 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field championships, New Jersey City University senior #DIANA LAWSON# (Union, NJ/Queen of Peace) is an obvious choice as the NJCU Athlete of the Month for May 2005.
A May 2005 graduate of the University, Lawson closed what is certain to be a Hall of Fame career by being named the NCAA Division III Championships Female Track Athlete of the Meet, at the 2005 NCAA Championships in Waverly, IA.
Lawson earned the award after becoming 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. She was the only men’s or women’s participant at the NCAA meet to earn multiple championships in individual events.
Her titles were the first individual NCAA national championships claimed in outdoor track and field in the history of the men’s and women’s programs.
She previously won indoor national championships in the 55-meter dash in 2001, 2002, and 2004.
Lawson, who crushed the field in the 100-meter dash trials in 11.75 seconds, claimed her first-ever outdoor national title by crossing the finish in 11.82 seconds.
She captured her second championship an hour later, when in the 200 final, she raced to the line in 24.10 seconds. She was 17/100th faster than the remainder of the field, posted the best mark in Division III this season, and broke a Wartburg Stadium record. Lawson had placed second overall in the trials.
On May 20, in the top performance in school history by the NJCU women’s outdoor track and field team, the Gothic Knights placed second overall out of 68 schools, a mere five points out of first, at the 2005 Division III Eastern College Athletic Conference championships.
Lawson dominated the ECAC field in winning the 200-meter dash in 24.39 seconds, to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships in the event. Her win was convincing, as the second place time was 25.13.
NJCU also claimed an ECAC championship in the 4x100-meter relay anchored by Lawson, winning the ECAC title by nearly a second, running 47.13, almost a second better than the second place school (48.12).
