Paynotta finishes 4th at NCAA indoor track and field championships

March 12, 2016--Grinnell, Iowa (uwrfsports.com) – University of Wisconsin-River Falls senior David Paynotta competed in the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field National Championships March 11-12 at Grinnell College. After posting a qualifying time of 6.82 seconds, which broke his own school record set earlier this season, Paynotta ran a 6.88 in the final heat to earn a 4th place finish.

Paynotta, winner of the WIAC indoor 60-meter dash title last month, turned in the fifth best qualifying time on Friday, March 11, securing his spot for Saturday's finals. Alex Koenen of UW-LaCrosse took home the title with a time of 6.73 seconds. Birmingham Southern's Jamal Watkins finished second with a time of 6.76 seconds. Third place went to Manni Egbujor of Augsburg, who finished in 6.86 seconds, edging Paynotta by just .02 seconds.

Paynotta also competed in the 200-meter dash at the national championship meet. He finished 11th in Friday's prelims in the event, turning in a time of 22.29 seconds. The top eight qualifiers advanced to Saturday's finals that were won by Parker Witt of UW-Whitewater with a time of 21.76 seconds.

UW-Eau Claire took home the men's team title, scoring a team total of 53 points. UWEC edged UW-Whitewater (49 points) and UW-LaCrosse (40 points), who finished second and third, respectively, for the national title.

Full results from the championships can be found here.