Contact: Sam Hopp, Ripon College Director of Athletic Communications, hoppsam@ripon.edu

RIPON, Wisconsin – Just a few months after finishing her freshman track and field season, Ripon College’s Lily Rosenthal will line up with some of the best athletes in the country at the 2026 Toyota USATF Outdoor & Para National Championships. Nearly 700 competitors will take part in the three-day event from across the United States, with roughly one-third taking part in para events. For Rosenthal, it comes as another step on an already busy summer competition schedule.
 
“I typically compete in three to five para track and field competitions each summer. The summer season gives me the opportunity to compete against some of the best para-athletes in the country, while continuing to improve and challenge myself at a higher level.”
 
Para track and field athletes are grouped into classifications based on their activity limitation in a specific event. Rosenthal competes in T62 for track and F62 for field events, a classification for athletes with bilateral below-knee amputations. To qualify for the 2026 Para National Championships, athletes needed to record a result equal to or better than the National Championships Entry Standard for their classification at recognized competitions held between January 2024 and July 2026.
 
This year’s National Championships will be held at Icahn Stadium in New York City, a new facility and locale for Rosenthal to add to a growing list.
 
“I've been fortunate to compete both nationally and internationally. I traveled to Thailand as part of the U.S. delegation, and competed in Oregon, California, Michigan, Florida, Colorado, and Alabama… I'm excited to compete in New York because I've never been there before. I'm excited for another opportunity to compete on that stage. I'll be in the same long jump and 100m competition as Paralympians and athletes with much more experience than I have.”
 
While the high level of competition and the different stadiums may not be anything new to Rosenthal, there still promises to be plenty of novelty.
 
“Every competition offers a unique experience and creates different memories. Some stand out because of the competition, others because of the people I've met, the places I've traveled, or the opportunities I've had. Each track meet holds a special memory.”
 
Rosenthal qualified for the 100m championship following a Florida trip two summers ago, finishing a full second ahead of the entry standard qualification time at the US Paralympic Team Trials. Then, following a strong showing in the long jump at the St. Norbert Invitational this April, she qualified for her second event.
 
“I prefer the long jump… [it’s] the event I look forward to the most. My favorite event overall is the javelin, which I throw using my primary walking legs. Unfortunately, javelin isn't a Paralympic event in my classification, so I focus on long jump and sprints, where I compete using my running blades.”
 
Rosenthal’s running blades are carbon fiber prostheses, designed specifically for speed and performance, as opposed to the stability afforded by walking prostheses. The blades are about one-third as powerful as an ankle, with the design aimed at absorbing the ground contact which would otherwise be absorbed by the athlete’s knees, hips, and back, and returning the energy generated by that contact.
 
After a freshman season at Ripon featuring competition in five events, Rosenthal showed steady growth throughout the indoor and outdoor seasons, but her improvement in the long jump proved most dramatic, with an increased distance of nearly a foot and a half from the start of the winter to the end.
 
“For many of my teammates and coaches, I was the first para-athlete they had trained with. I am fortunate to be the first para-athlete to compete on their team… It also shows the younger athletes with disabilities who want to do a sport in college there is a way… The coaches are supportive and helped make the transition to college athletics a smooth one.”
 
Jumps Coach Ben Fisher helped guide Rosenthal’s improvements throughout this season, developing training plans in his first season with a para athlete.
 
“There are constraints she has to work around, but it’s [about] pushing her to believe she can do more than she thinks she can…” Fisher says of Rosenthal’s first year. “Being told growing up that there’s certain things she can’t do, and figuring out that she can do a lot of those things this year, I think that was a big reason as to why she improved a lot.”
 
Oftentimes, that meant variation.
 
“Going into the weight room with her… showing her either like, yes you can do these [exercises], or modifying them to work with her constraints to make it usable, doable and sensible… Instead of doing weighted free squats or standing squats, we did more leg presses, doing stuff with medicine balls instead of doing cleans… We didn’t take anything off her plate, we just found different ways to challenge her.”
 
Rosenthal’s focus for the next parts of her track career, at Ripon and beyond, are not limited to the competitions, but include plenty of mention to the other people involved.
 
“I’m looking forward to meeting new people, competing, and learning new techniques… As a Ripon teammate, I’m looking forward to meeting the new incoming freshman, and building up foundations with a new coach.”
 
Head coach PJ Senn, preparing for his first season at Ripon, echoes Rosenthal’s sentiments about new foundations.
 
“Lily has consistently pushed herself to reach new levels as a track and field athlete… It's exciting to have a student-athlete who is motivated to compete on the national stage and represent our program. I'm looking forward to working with Lily over the next three years and watching her continue to grow as both an athlete and a person."
 
Rosenthal plans to continue her busy summer schedule of para events into the future, with an immediate goal in mind: the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games.Her performance at the National Championships will help determine her advancement to further stages of competitions as selection to the US team depends on national rankings, which can be seen here.
 
Rosenthal competes in the Long Jump this Thursday, July 23, with the event starting at 11:30am CST. Her 100m event comes on Saturday, July 25, with a 2:18pm CST scheduled start time. For live results and live broadcast information, click here.