VALLEY CITY, ND (VCSUVikings.com) Valley City State University’s Karly Just has qualified to compete at the NAIA Marathon Classic on Dec. 8 in Sacramento, Calif.
Just enters the national marathon ranked No. 6 in the NAIA. Rankings were established based on average pace during a pair of two-hour runs conducted this fall. The NAIA Marathon Classic is run in conjunction with the California International Marathon.
The marathon will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. CT on Sunday, December 8, 2024, near the Folsom Dam in Folsom. The scenic 26-mile, 385-yard course runs from Folsom Dam to the State Capitol in Sacramento.
Just will be competing in the NAIA Marathon Classic for the second time. In the 2023 NAIA Marathon Classic, Just finished 18th with a time of 3:27:54 averaging 7:56 minutes per mile.
Just also recently competed in the 2024 NAIA Cross Country National Championships in Columbia, Mo., where she placed 76th in a field of 327. There she ran a 6K time of 22:30.5 nearly resetting the school record set by herself earlier in the season.
Valley City State has a strong marathon history, which includes an individual national championship by Gary Schafer in 1989. Last year Jasmine Barnes and Karly Just competed recording 11th and 18th place finishes. A few years back, Dennis Gonzalez placed fifth at the NAIA Marathon in 2019.