April 15, 2009

Wheaton Great James Voted NCAA's Top Track Female of Last 25 Years

NORTON, Mass. - Former Wheaton College women's track great Amber James (Woodbury, MN/Woodbury) can lay claim to another exclusive honor, as the 2004 graduate earned the distinction of being voted the NCAA's top female athlete in the 25-year history of Division III indoor track & field championships.

Voted on by Division III track & field regional representatives prior to this year's NCAA Championship in Terre Haute, Indiana, this prestigious accolade comes nearly three years after James was tabbed to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division III Silver Anniversary Team, which commemorated the 25th anniversary of women competing in NCAA outdoor track & field championships.

An astounding 17-time national champion and 24-time All-American when combining the indoor and outdoor seasons, James remains the most decorated athlete in Wheaton history. She recorded an impressive seven national crowns and 10 All-America awards during her four indoor seasons, leading the Lyons to three national titles and one runner-up finish.

A winner of four straight indoor championships in the 400-meter dash from 2001-04 and a member of three 4x400M relay team titles, James is the only Division III man or woman to have swept a track event all four years. Her winning 400 time of 55.46 seconds in 2002 is tied for the fastest finals mark in meet history, while the relay's finish of 3:45.01 in 2003 remains the top time ever, as the next closest was by another Wheaton quartet with a time of 3:48.78 in 2002.

Helping the Lyons become the first Division III program to sweep three straight indoor and outdoor national titles, James was just the second Division III athlete to grab eight indoor and outdoor national championships in a single event, doing so in the 400M dash. James also became just the second athlete to capture three successive 200M dash outdoor national crowns. Her seven individual outdoor national titles tied her for second for most titles in a career.

The 2002 Division III track & field recipient of the Honda Award, which recognizes the top female collegiate athlete in each of 12 sports, and finalist for the Honda-Broderick Cup, given to the division's Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year, James remains Wheaton's record holder in the indoor and outdoor 200 and 400M dashes. She also anchored the school's top indoor and outdoor 4x400M and indoor 4x200M relay teams and ran a leg on the fastest outdoor 4x100M relay squad.