Ithaca College

Ithaca College graduate student Katherine Pitman of the women's track & field team and sophomore Ben Brisman from the wrestling program each won national championships on March 9 and 10.

Pitman secured her third career national title in the pole vault on Friday afternoon, March 9, at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships inside the Birmingham CrossPlex with a DIII meet and national record vault of 4.28 meters (14 feet 0.5 inches).

Pitman entered the event at 4.00 meters (13' 1.50") with one competitor remaining in the field of 17 student-athletes. She surpassed 4.00 meters with ease on her first attempt of the day and won the national title after Harmony Kolling of Otterbein was unable to clear that height.

The Swampscott, Mass. native continued her national championship run at 4.12 meters (13' 6.25"), as she surpassed the mark on her second attempt. She then elected to take a run at 4.20 meters (13' 9.25") to set her own NCAA Division III meet record, which Pitman set last year at 4.18, and cleared the bar on her second run.

Pitman then requested that the bar be elevated to 4.28 meters in an attempt to break her own national record of 4.27 meters, which she set on March 2 inside Ithaca's Athletics and Events Center. It would not take Pitman long to clear the bar, as she went up-and-over on her first try.

Pitman becomes the fifth student-athlete at Ithaca College, and third for the women's track & field program, to win three national championships during their time on South Hill. She also secures the 40th all-time individual national championship at IC.

The women's track & field team would finish seventh overall for their second-best finish at the indoor championships.

A day later, Brisman, a 141-pounder, won the first individual national championship for the wrestling program since 125-pounder Ricardo Gomez '13 won a national title in 2013. Brisman took down the No. 1 seeded wrestler in the 141-lb. weight class with a 10-7 decision inside the Cleveland Public Auditorium at the 2018 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships.

Brisman set the tone for Ithaca's historic night with the highlight of the evening in the 141-lb. final. He entered the evening as the first 141-pounder to qualify for a title bout at the weight since Jeremy Stierly '12 did so in back-to-back seasons in 2010 and 2011. Stierly finished as the runner-up in both of those runs, Brisman did one better with a thrilling victory.

Brisman is the Ithaca's 41st individual national champion in all sports and the 12th individual national champion for the wrestling program. He is the 26th IC student-athlete to win a title.

Wrestling finished third overall in the team standings.