Men's Track and Field Tuesday, May 24, 2022 NWC Athletic Communications

Raiders Head to Alabama for NAIA Outdoor Championships

Nine men and five women set to travel to Gulf Shores

ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The fourteen qualifying members of the Northwestern College men's and women's track and field teams are set to compete at the 2022 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Wednesday, May 25 through Friday, May 27 down at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium in Golf Shores, Ala.

COACH BAHRKE'S TAKE
"We are excited to watch our 14 athletes compete in Gulf Shores at the Outdoor Championships," said head coach Scott Bahrke. "They have worked hard all indoor and outdoor season to make it to this point. Now they can test their abilities against the best in the nation."

"It was great to fly to Gulf Shores in one day this year as opposed to taking a two-day bus ride as in the past. Our athletes have traveled well so far and are looking forward to competing on Wednesday through Friday. We got the track this evening (Monday) for our workout. This was the first time at outdoor nationals for half of our participants. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we will have another workout on the track."

MEN'S EVENTS
Day 1 – Wed., May 25
The Raider 4x100m relay team will hit the track first down in Alabama with the preliminaries of the event scheduled for 4:10 p.m. The relay team will feature Kyler Vander Velde (Fr., Sioux Falls, S.D.), Cody Post (Jr., Rock Valley, Iowa), Braden Jahn (Jr., Sioux Center, Iowa), and Jake Davies (So., Brandon, Wis.). Daniel Strand (Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D.) will serve as the Raider alternate. The relay team sits just outside the auto mark with their season-best time of 41.53 seconds at the Drake Relays.

Day 2 – Thurs., May 26
Highlighting the Red Raiders on Day 2 of the Outdoor Championships is James Gilbert Jr. (Jr., Orlando, Fla.) in the long jump. He's slated to jump beginning at 2:30 p.m. Entering the Championships, Gilbert sits sixth in the NAIA with a qualifying jump of 7.34m.

Day 3 – Fri., May 27
The day begins bright and early on the final day for the Raiders, as both Ian Wiersma (Sr., Zeeland, Mich.) and Levi Cross (Sr., Des Moines, Iowa) are set to compete in the Half Marathon beginning at 6:00 a.m. Wiersma sits 22^nd in the nation (1:12:22.00), followed by Cross at 27^th (1:12:34.00).

Lorenzo Jones (So., Orlando, Fla.) will compete in the Triple Jump at approximately 1:30 p.m. in the final field event at the Championships for Northwestern. Jones now sits third in the nation with a leap of 15.05m, one of three in the country to break the 15-meter mark.

Potential finals for the 4x100m relay team on the final day of the Championships is set for 2:50 p.m. on Friday.

WOMEN'S EVENTS
Day 1 – Wed., May 25
Abigail Clarke (Jr., Waverly, Neb.) and Emma Zoet (Fr., Hull, Iowa) will start things for the Raider women down in Gulf Shores with the preliminaries in the 400m hurdles at approximately 5:10 p.m. Clarke met the automatic mark with a 1:03.03 time at the 2022 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Championships on May 6 and sits 15^th in the NAIA. Zoet's provisional mark of 1:04.43 sits 28^th in the nation.

Day 2 – Thurs., May 26
No scheduled athletes set to compete on Day 2 of the Championships.

Day 3 – Fri., May 27
At 6:00 a.m., Katlyn Wiese (So., Holstein, Iowa) will run the Half Marathon for the Red Raiders. She hit the automatic mark at the Midland Spring Half Marathon to begin the Outdoor season on March 12. She holds the seventh-best time in the NAIA entering the Championships with a time of 1:26:13.24.

In field events, Jacie Vander Waal (Fr., Sioux Center, Iowa) and Lindsey Craig (Jr., Shafer, Minn.) will compete in the High Jump at 2:00 p.m. The starting height is set at 1.59m for all competitors, as both Craig and Vander Waal notched the provisional mark of 1.64m this season.

Potentially rounding out the Championships for the Raiders would be Clarke and Zoet, in the 400m hurdles at approximately 4:10 p.m.

WHAT'S AT STAKE

The Northwestern men is looking for their first Outdoor All-American since the 2018 season; the women last did it in 2019.
Gilbert and Jones have the opportunity to mark the first Raider to earn All-American distinctions in a field event since the 2015 Outdoor season.
Gilbert looks to build upon his Indoor runner-up finish in the Long Jump earlier this year, earning back-to-back runner-up finishes.
The men's 4x100m relay team looks to be the first All-Americans since the 2014 relay team (7^th).
Since events have been recorded with All-American status in program history (2008), Clarke and Zoet look to become the first Raiders to earn All-American marks in the 400m hurdles.
Craig and Vander Waal look to join Kendra De Jong (2010, 2012) as the only Raiders to earn All-American honors in the High Jump.

TICKET INFORMATION
According to the Gulf Shores tourism website (linked above) day passes for the Championships are set at $10, with the three-day pass set for $25.

The Outdoor Championships are hosted at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium in Golf Shores, Ala. Links that are currently available at the time of the publication of this preview can be found linked above.

Don't forget to follow Northwestern College Athletics on Facebook @nwcraiders, Twitter @nwcraiders, and Instagram @nwcraiders! #RaidersStandOut

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Players Mentioned

Levi Cross: Distance; Sophomore

Daniel Strand: Sprints; Sophomore

Ian Wiersma: Distance; Sophomore

James Gilbert Jr.: Jumps / Sprints; Freshman

Cody Post: Sprints; Freshman

Lindsey Craig: Jumps; Freshman

Braden Jahn: Sprints; Freshman

Abigail Clarke: Hurdles/Mid-Distance; Junior

Katlyn Wiese: Distance; Sophomore

Jake Davies: Mid-Distance/Long Jump; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Levi Cross
: Sophomore
: Distance

Daniel Strand
: Sophomore
: Sprints

Ian Wiersma
: Sophomore
: Distance

James Gilbert Jr.
: Freshman
: Jumps / Sprints

Cody Post
: Freshman
: Sprints

Lindsey Craig
: Freshman
: Jumps

Braden Jahn
: Freshman
: Sprints

Abigail Clarke
: Junior
: Hurdles/Mid-Distance

Katlyn Wiese
: Sophomore
: Distance

Jake Davies
: Sophomore
: Mid-Distance/Long Jump