BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Lebanon Valley sophomore Anna Sawicki broke her own school record in the pentathlon with a score of 3578 points to finish sixth overall and earn First Team All-America honors on Friday at the NCAA National Championships in Birmingham, Alabama, at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
 
Sawicki, the first pentathlon national qualifier in program history, became the program's first All-American since 2017 when Olivia Jendrzejewski finished third in the high jump. The sophomore had a career-best or the second-best performance of her career in all five events to improve on her previous school record total of 3459 points she accumulated at the Middle Atlantic Conference Championships two weeks ago. Sawicki entered the meet ranked 18th in the nation and finished on the medal stand, earning three points for the Dutchmen in her first Nationals appearance.
 
The day began with the 60-meter hurdles, where Sawicki was in the second of five heats. She ran in lane four and finished in 9.39 seconds to score 830 points. The sophomore was 0.01 seconds off her career fastest time of 9.38 seconds that she ran in the preliminaries at the MAC Championships. Her time was the 18th fastest in the field of 20.
 
The next event was the high jump, where Sawicki made a huge leap in the standings as she cleared a career-best height of 1.64 meters (5'4.5") to score 783 points. That height was better than her previous career-best height of 1.63 meters (5'4.25") that she jumped during the pentathlon at MAC Championships. It is also the third-best in program history. Sawicki finished tied for fourth in the event and moved into the top 10 at ninth in the overall standings with 1613 points. She entered competition at 1.43 meters (4'8.25"), which she cleared on her first attempt. Sawicki then cleared her first attempts at 1.49 meters (4'10.5"), 1.52 meters (4'11.75"), 1.55 meters (5'1"), 1.58 meters (5'2.25"), and 1.61 meters (5'3.25"). She missed her first two attempts at 1.64 meters (5'4.5") before making her third. The sophomore missed all three attempts at 1.67 meters (5'5.75").
 
The third event of the day was the shot put, where Sawicki recorded a season-best 11.68 meters (38'4") to score 640 points in the first flight. She was just shy of her career-best mark of 11.73 meters (38'6") that she recorded at the 2025 MAC Championships during the pentathlon. Sawicki's first throw was 11.21 meters (36'9.5"). She then had her best throw of the day on the second throw with a mark of 11.68 meters (38'4"). Sawicki's third and final throw went 10.94 meters (35'10.75"). The sophomore finished second in the flight and was third overall in the field. She moved up to fifth place in the standings with 2253 points.
 
Her next event was the long jump, where she recorded a mark of 5.10 meters (16'8.75") to score 587 points. It is the second-best jump of her career, only behind the jump of 5.28 meters (17'4") recorded at the MAC Championships during the pentathlon two weeks ago. Sawicki was in the second flight and had a mark of 4.76 meters (15'7.5") on her first jump. She then recorded her best jump at 5.10 meters (16'8.75") on her second attempt. Sawicki's third jump was a mark of 4.90 meters (16'1"). She was 13th in the field during the event and dropped down to eighth overall in the standings with 2840 points.
 
The final event was the 800 meters, where she had a career-best time of 2:26.46 for 738 points. Sawicki beat her previous best time of 2:27.90, which she ran at the Blue & Grey Invitational in January. The sophomore was in the second heat and started near the outside in position eight out of 10. She ran a split of 35.46 seconds on the first lap and was seventh. Her second lap split was 36.46 seconds as she moved up to fifth with a cumulative time of 1:11.92 halfway through the race. Sawicki had a third lap split of 37.74 seconds and moved up one more spot to fourth with a time of 1:49.66. She split 36.81 seconds on her final lap to finish fourth in the heat. Her time was the 10th best in the field as she moved up to sixth place in the final standings.
 
Centre College junior Serena McNeilly finished first with a career-best 3782 points. Stockton University junior Elaina Styer was second with a career-best 3765 points. Styer entered the day with the nation's best score during the season at 3747 points. Central College senior Olivia Bohlen was third with a career-best 3723 points. University of Wisconsin-La Crosse senior Amber Grosse totaled a career-best 3600 points to place fourth, while Thomas College junior Emma Burr rounded out the top five with a career-best 3597 points.
 
Rory Lieberman was scheduled to run in the men's 5000 meters but was unfortunately unable to compete due to injury and was scratched from the race on Friday afternoon.
 
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