Hall of Fame
When one looks up the definition of the word prolific, Christy Cazzola’s name quickly comes to mind after she accumulated 17 NCAA Division III titles, 21 All-America performances and 27 WIAC championships as a member of the UW-Oshkosh women’s cross country and track & field programs from 2008 to 2014.
A graduate of Kaukauna High School, Cazzola began her collegiate career as a member of the 2008 UW-Oshkosh women’s cross country team. She finished 37th at the NCAA Championship that season while placing ninth regionally and fourth in the conference.
Already a mother of one before enrolling at UW-Oshkosh, Cazzola took a break from athletic competition following the 2008 NCAA Cross Country Championship to focus on the birth of her second child, her family and her education.
Cazzola returned to run cross country for the Titans in 2010. She won the WIAC title that season while finishing fourth both regionally and nationally.
In 2011, Cazzola won conference and regional titles while finishing second at the NCAA Championship hosted by UW-Oshkosh at Winneconne’s Lake Breeze Golf Club. She followed those performances by winning conference, regional and national titles in 2012. Cazzola won the 6,000-meter race at the 2012 NCAA Championship with a time of 20:53.
One of only two athletes to win three WIAC cross country titles, Cazzola was named the league’s Athlete of the Year three times. She also was chosen as the 2012 NCAA National Athlete of the Year and the NCAA Midwest Region Athlete of the Year on two occasions.
An annual force on the track from 2011 to 2014, Cazzola concluded her UW-Oshkosh track & field career with 16 NCAA titles, 18 All-America awards and 24 WIAC championships.
The 14-time WIAC Track Athlete of the Week selection helped UW-Oshkosh to NCAA indoor titles in 2011, 2013 and 2014 and the NCAA outdoor championship in 2011. The Titans won WIAC indoor and outdoor titles in 2011 and the league indoor championship in 2012.
Competing at the NCAA Indoor Championship, Cazzola was an eight-time champion and nine-time All-American. She is the only athlete to win the mile run three times, capturing the 2012, 2013 and 2014 titles after finishing fourth in the event in 2011. Cazzola also won the 800-meter run in 2012, 3,000-meter run in 2014 and the 5,000-meter run in 2013 while competing on first-place distance medley relay teams in 2013 and 2014.
In WIAC indoor championship competition, Cazzola won the mile run four times, 800-meter run in 2011 and 2012, 3,000-meter run in 2014 and 5,000-meter run in 2013. She also ran on the first-place distance medley relay team in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and the winning 1,600-meter relay squad in 2011.
Cazzola was an eight-time champion and nine-time All-American while performing at the NCAA Outdoor Championship. She won the 1,500-meter run four times while placing first in both the 800- and 5,000-meter runs in 2013 and 2014.
Participating at the WIAC Outdoor Championship, Cazzola won 800- and 1,500-meter run titles four times each, a feat accomplished by only one other person in league history. Cazzola won the 5,000-meter run in both 2013 and 2014 while competing on the first-place 3,200-meter relay team each season.
Cazzola swept the NCAA National Track Athlete of the Year Awards for both the indoor and outdoor seasons in 2013 and 2014. She was named the Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year four times and the Indoor Track Athlete of the Year twice for the NCAA’s Midwest Region.
Cazzola also was chosen as the Outstanding Track Performer at the 2013 WIAC Indoor Championship, 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championship and the 2011, 2013 and 2014 WIAC Outdoor Championships.
Cazzola currently owns five UW-Oshkosh, two WIAC Championship and two Kolf Sports Center records indoors and three UW-Oshkosh, one WIAC Championship and two Oshkosh Sports Complex records outdoors. She presently ranks second in NCAA history in the outdoor 1,500-meter run, second in the indoor distance medley relay, third in the indoor mile run, fourth in the outdoor 800-meter run and fifth in the indoor 5,000-meter run with her fastest event time.
Academically, Cazzola was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s NCAA Scholar Athlete of the Year for women’s cross country in 2012 and both women’s indoor and outdoor track & field in 2013 and 2014. She received three Academic All-America mentions from the College Sports Communicators, including a First Team award in both 2013 and 2014.
Cazzola, a four-time WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll member, was named the NCAA Division III Track & Field winner of the Collegiate Women’s Sports Award in 2014.
A “Faces In The Crowd” honoree in the December 31, 2012 edition of Sports Illustrated, Cazzola was selected to the WIAC Women’s Track & Field All-Centennial Team in 2012.
Cazzola, who was inducted into the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s NCAA Division III Track & Field Hall of Fame earlier this year, received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UW-Oshkosh in 2014 and 2016, respectively.
Following her graduation from UW-Oshkosh, Cazzola represented sporting apparel company Oiselle in 2014 and 2015 and was a professional athlete with the Atlanta Track Club in 2015 and 2016.
Since 2018, Cazzola has been a teacher at Lassiter High School in Marietta, Ga. She also serves as the school’s varsity speech coach. This past February, Cazzola guided the speech team to the Georgia Forensics Coaches Association championship and a runner-up finish in the overall competition. In 2022, Cazzola was named the GFCA’s Coach of the Year.
Cazzola lives in Woodstock, Ga., with her husband Shuma Kuwamoto, son Noah and daughter Kaya.
