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CITY, ND – (NewsDakota.com) The accolades continue to roll in for Valley City State University track & field freshman Seri Geisler.
One day after earning a conference athlete of the week honor, Geisler has been named the NAIA National Field Athlete of the Week, the NAIA office announced on Wednesday.
She also earned the North Star Athletic Association Field Athlete of the Week on Tuesday after her record-setting performance in javelin last week. Geisler is a native of Grand Rapids, Minn., and a graduate of Greenway High School.
Geisler launched a throw of 49.83 meters – or 163 feet, 6 inches – on Friday in Aberdeen, S.D., beating second place by a stunning 39 feet. It topped Geisler’s personal record by more than five meters, extending her own North Star Athletic Association conference record.
Geisler now has the top throw in the entire NAIA this spring by almost three meters. She will compete at the NAIA Outdoor Championships on May 26-28 in Gulf Shores, Ala. It is also the top throw in the NAIA since the 2014 season.
The throw of 49.83 meters is also a new school record at VCSU, beating the old mark of 49.01 meters (160 feet, 9 inches) set by Wanda Schwab in 1991. (The women’s javelin underwent a redesign in 1999.)
VCSU head coach Chris Johnson called Geisler’s throw a “special moment” and said it will also go down as a meet record and facility record at Northern State’s Swisher Field. The old facility record was 45.17 meters (148 feet, 2 inches) set by Kara Nygaard from MSU-Moorhead in 2014.
Geisler’s throw has met the qualifying standard for both the USATF Junior Outdoor Championships (46.50 meters) and IAAF World Junior Outdoor Championships (49.50 meters). Her distance currently ranks third in the USATF Junior rankings (U.S. athletes under 20 years old).
The javelin finish was one of two first-place finishes on Friday for Geisler, who also took first place in the shot put.
Geisler also set a new school record in indoor shot put earlier this year, and competed at the NAIA Indoor Championships in the event.
