By Joe Vanden Acker, Director of Athletic Media Relations
    APPLETON, Wis. -- Jiayi "Diana" Ling didn't defeat the competition at the 1994 NCAA Division III Championships, she decimated it.
    The native of Albuquerque, N.M., became Lawrence University's first national champion when she won the long jump at the indoor track and field championships on March 12. Competing on the campus of UW-Oshkosh, Ling put on a dominating performance.
    Ling leaped 18 feet, 9.5 inches to win the national title and earn All-America honors for the third time. Ling won by a whopping 8.5 inches over second-place Dionne Laffond of Westfield State College, but that isn't the most amazing thing about her victory. Ling had four other jumps that day inside Kolf Sports Center that also would have won the title. 
    "That was luck," Ling later told The Lawrentian.   
    One jump might have been lucky, but five winning jumps at the national championships is a performance of a lifetime.
    "It feels good to make history and all," Ling said, "But I didn't accomplish my goal for the season, so that was kind of disappointing." 
    Ling had hoped to jump 19-5 on the season, but she had a phenomenal indoor season. Ling won the long jump, triple jump and 55 meters at the Midwest Conference Championships before heading to the national meet.     
    Ling earned All-America honors two more times in the long jump, taking third at the 1992 NCAA outdoor championships and fourth at the 1993 national indoor championships. She also qualified for the NCAA championships two more times.
    A 2004 Lawrence Hall of Fame inductee, Ling was a 14-time Midwest Conference champion and held nine school records when she graduated. 

Jiayi Ling won the long jump to claim Lawrence first national title.

The Top 25 Countdown ...
No. 25 Lawrence football makes ABC-TV debut vs. Cornell in 1980
No. 24 Lawrence football beats Coe 14-10 in 1986 MWC Championship Game
No. 23 Lawrence women's soccer beats Aurora 2-1 for first NCAA Tournament win
No. 22 Aljay Wren and Nick Maxam team up for 99-yard touchdown pass
No. 21 Remarkable turnaround for women's basketball
No. 20 Jim Miller takes 12th at 1978 NCAA Cross Country Championships
No. 19 Basketball stars Kenya Earl, Brad Sendell chase scoring titles
No. 18 Cross country sweeps Midwest Conference titles in 2021
No. 17 Keven Bradley scores final 20 points for men's basketball in win over Ripon
No. 16 Men's basketball breaks 54-year drought by winning 1997 Midwest Conference title
No. 15 Football beats Ripon in final seconds to secure third straight Midwest Conference title
No. 14 Kate Leventhal runs to All-America cross country honors in 1981
No. 13 No. 1 Lawrence men's basketball team hosts 2006 NCAA Division III sectional
No. 12 (tie) Josh Janusiak runs to All-America honors/1950 cross country team eighth in nation
No. 11 Keven Bradley's buzzer-beater preserves perfect season and delivers Midwest Conference title
No. 10 Mike Gattnar wins NCAA title in epee
No. 9 Mallory Koula's 42-second hat trick
No. 8 1967 football team posts perfect season
No. 7 Men's hockey pulls off epic comeback against St. Norbert
No. 6 Sara Schye pitches Lawrence to pair of NCAA Tournament wins
No. 5 Andy Kazik caps perfect season with NCAA wrestling title