VALLEY CITY, ND (VCSUVikings.com) Valley City State University is sending three athletes to the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships.
Kendra Odegard, Sadie Hansen and Jaiden Peraza will all compete for VCSU at the national meet, which runs May 22-24 in Marion, Ind. Odegard and Hansen both qualified in the women’s javelin, while Peraza qualified in the men’s high jump.
The women’s javelin event will be held on the first night of competition, starting at 6 p.m. CT on Wednesday, May 22. Odegard enters the national meet with the top throw in the NAIA this season. Her mark of 46.55 meters from the NSAA Championships last week is more than 8 feet farther than the current second-best throw in the NAIA.
It is Odegard’s third straight year qualifying for the national meet. She finished fourth at nationals last season and earned All-American honors with a throw of 45.08 meters. The national champion last season throw 47.27 meters.
Hansen will be making her first appearance at nationals after qualifying with a throw of 39.95 meters at the NSAA Championships. She ranks 29th out of 31 national competitors in the women’s javelin.
The men’s high jump competition will be held Thursday, May 23, at 3:30 p.m. CT.
Peraza enters the national meet ranked 13th with his top height of 2.05 meters (6 feet, 8.75 inches). The men’s high jump is shaping up to be an extremely competitive event with 26 athletes having cleared 2.05 meters or higher and 37 total athletes competing. Peraza is one of 14 athletes who are tied for 13th in the NAIA with that height.
This will be Peraza’s fourth national meet. He qualified for both indoor and outdoor nationals this season and last season. During the indoor season in February, Peraza cleared 2.05 meters at the national meet and placed fourth – earning his first All-American honor.