National Championship
2016 Indoor 60-Meter Hurdles (8.55)

A season with a few bumps in the road ended with a clear path to victory for North Central College's Madison Renfro, who ran into the record books by claiming an individual national championship in the women's 60-meter hurdles in the 2016 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships.

Making her third appearance in the event's final, Renfro entered the race as the fastest qualifier from Friday's preliminary heats (8.60 seconds). She affirmed that status in Saturday's final, starting strong and leading the field to the line in 8.55 seconds, setting a new track record and breaking her own North Central varsity record of 8.59.

She became the first national champion for the Cardinals' women's team since 2009 and the ninth member of the program to earn All-America honors in the same event three straight seasons. She did so despite injury troubles which slowed her progress early in the campaign.

"There were a lot of ups and downs throughout the whole season," she said. "It was a matter of talking with the coaches and athletic training staff, making sure I did what I needed to do to fix it and stuck to their plan for me. I really had to focus on just getting healthy and staying positive throughout the whole process, and that was hard."

Despite the additional obstacles in her path, Renfro's goal of chasing a national title never wavered after the success she experienced in her previous national-championship competitions.

"Last year, I thought that I could win," she said. "Going into this year, my goal for both the indoor and outdoor seasons was to be a national champion. That was my mindset and my goal for myself. It was something I expected.? It was all about staying positive, finding ways to work around injury, and to keep moving forward in any way possible."