Birmingham, Ala. – On the first day of the 2023 NCAA Division III Indoor National Championship, WashU's Distance Medley Relay team of Emily Konkus, Kathryn Leighty, Ally Sarussi and Aoife Dunne won the national title, racing to a time of 11:35.09.
 
This win marks the 36^th national title in WashU Athletics' history and the first for a women's track and field running event since 2017.
 
Konkus started things off with a 3:32.35 1,200 split, followed by a 59.05 400m split from Leighty. Sarussi ran an 800 split of 2:12.24 and Dunne closed it would with a 1,600 split of 4:51.45.
 
Senior Ella Behrens posted a new PR and took fourth in the 5,000m with a time of 16:46.77.
 
Junior Ebun Opata finished in seventh place in the long jump, hitting  a mark of 5.57m.
 
Junior Emma Kelley posted the top preliminary time in the 800m, running to a 2:08.78, hitting a new PR and besting her top-ranked time. Dunne came in second in the prelims with a time of 2:11.49 and both will race in tomorrow's final.
 
The Bears 4x400 team of Kylie Spytek, Sophie Fox, Nicole Stewart and Kelley posted the top preliminary time of 3:46.58.
 
Sophomore Lauren Gay ran the eighth-best time in the 200m prelim, advancing to the final with a time of 24.90.
 
Spytek, a first-year, hit a new PR of 57.15, taking 10^th in the 400m preliminaries.
 
The Bears – who are currently in fourth – are back to wrap up the NCAA Indoor Championships tomorrow morning beginning at 10 a.m.