Blue Hawk women take 11th at NAIA National Championships
MARION, IND. – The Dickinson State women's outdoor track and field team earned 22 points at the NAIA National Championships hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University, good enough for 11th place. DSU gathered four different All-American nods, awarded to athletes finishing in the top eight of their respective events.
The Blue Hawks were led by the national championship performance by Kaitlyn McColly in the Heptathlon, earning 10 points for DSU. McColly became just the fifth female athlete in DSU history to bring home an individual track and field national title. McColly also competed in the 100m Hurdles, finishing in 26th place.
Kori Nagel secured a pair of All-American honors for her fourth -place finish in the Shot Put and eighth-place finish in the Hammer Throw. She earned seven points for her placements. Nagel narrowly missed out on a third All-American bid when she finished ninth in the Discus.
Wrenzi Wrzesinski captured the final points for the Blue Hawks, earning five points, and All-American status, with her fourth-place finish in the 400m hurdles. Wrzesinski also competed in the 100m Hurdles, taking 22nd place.
Jewel Olson took 23rd place in the 400m dash in her first national meet appearance, while Madison Wahl took 11th in the Pole Vault. Tori Nygard joined Nagel in the Hammer Throw finishing 14th, Jocelyn Ott finished in 19th place in the Long Jump and Grace Timm took 15th place in the 3000m Steeplechase to round out the Blue Hawk performances on the women's side.
Martin Farver was the lone competitor for the Blue Hawks on the men's side, taking 19th place in the 200m Dash.
As has been the story all season, records fell at the national meet, with McColly (Heptathlon), Nagel (Hammer Throw), Wrzesinski (400m Hurdles), and Timm (3000m Steeplechase) all breaking Dickinson State school records.
"This season has been an amazing ride," said head coach Shayne Wittkopp. "Seeing things all line up for the kids has been really fulfilling as a coach. These athletes have been working all year for this weekend and they competed fantastically. It really was a great week for the Hawks and I'm really proud of their effort."