NCAA DII Track | National Championship Preview
Findlay, OH – With the NCAA Division II National Championship meet just two days away, the University of Findlay women's track and field team has fallen one spot to number seven in the country, per the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The men's team has fallen out of the top 25 after being ranked 24th a week ago. This week's rankings are the last of the season and take into account only the athletes that have qualified for the National Championship meet, which is set to begin on Thursday, May 26 and will run through Saturday, May 28 in Bradenton, Florida.
Women
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Female Field Athlete of the Year Lydia Guagenti is one of the headlines for the Oilers as she will be competing in the high jump and in the heptathlon at the championship meet.
Guagenti, who was a high jump all-American in outdoor last season, earned her trip to Bradenton with a pair of outstanding performances at the GLIAC Championship meet. In high jump, she won the GLIAC title with a jump of 5'8.75", the fifth best in the country this season. That jump is a full inch shy of her personal best which came last year at the Polar Bear Invitational. If Guagenti could match that jump or set a new personal-record, she will be in contention to win the event this weekend. (List of top HIGH JUMP marks)
Guagenti's other event is the heptathlon, in which she also won this year's GLIAC title with a score of 5,135. That score was a personal-record and also a University of Findlay record. This event will be tightly contested as the top 11 scores in the country are within 355 points. (List of top HEPTATHLON scores)
Senior Maud Sanmiquel will compete in the most events this week, earning a spot in the 100 meter hurdles, 400 meter hurdles, 4x100 meter relay, and the 4x400 meter relay.
Her best event this year was the 400 hurdles where her GLIAC Championship time of 59.08 was good for third best in the nation and earned her a GLIAC title. A podium spot is up for grabs as seven athletes, the nation's #3 through #9, are separated by less than a second. Sanmiquel was an all-American in the event last year as she finished 11th with a time of 1:01.29. (List of top 400H times)
In the 100 hurdles, Sanmiquel has earned a spot in the field after posting the 13th-best time in DII this year. The time of 13.77 was set at the GLIAC Championship Meet and is a personal-best for Sanmiquel. The best time in the event this year is by Jordan Sherrelle of Nova Southeastern who ran a 13.38, just 0.39 seconds faster than Sanmiquel. (List of top 100H times)
Sanmiquel, along with Milani Glass, Laura Hernandez, and Madison Stechshulte, will be competing in the 4x100 meter relay after posting a time of 46.01 at the GLIAC Championship. That time is tenth in DII this season. (List of top 4x100 times)
The final event for Sanmiquel is the 4x400 meter relay where she will team up with Glass, Samantha Grippe, and Hernandez to take on the nation's best. They qualified for a trip to Bradenton with a time of 3:43.04 which they set at the Aggie Last Chance meet. (List of top 4x400 times)
Grippe, who is in her third straight season as a national qualifier, will also take part in the 800 meter run. She secured a spot after a time of 2:10.26 at the GVSU Second to Last Chance Meet. That time is 20th in the country this season. In the 2014 National Championship meet, Grippe to 18th in the event. (List of top 800 METER times)
Alex DeVincentis, who has qualified for the National Championship meet for the second year in a row, will take part in both the shot put and discus throw.
In the shot put, DeVincentis, who earned all-American in the event in the indoor season, is ranked eighth after a throw of 49'10.5" at the Wake Forest Open. (List of top SHOT PUT distances)
Her other event is the discus throw where she is ranked fifth in the country with a distance of 166'11", the throw that earned her the GLIAC championship. That throw was a personal record in the event and is one of only five automatic qualifying throws in the country this season. (List of top DISCUS THROW distances)
Erica King is making her third appearance at the outdoor National Championship meet in the hammer throw after automatically qualifying with a throw of 200'1" at the GLIAC Championship meet. She is ranked third in the nation this year in the event. (List of top HAMMER THROW distances)
Making her first appearance at the event is Liz Streacker, who has also qualified in the hammer throw. She is ranked sixth in the nation with a season-best throw of 192'11", also at the GLIAC Championship meet. (List of top HAMMER THROW distances)
Men
All-American, GLIAC Champion, and GLIAC Field Athlete of the Year, Michael Bruce returns to the big stage in a pair of events, the triple jump and the long jump.
The triple jump is Bruce's best event and he qualifies with a distance of 51'7.75", good for third in the country this year. Last year at the National Championship, Bruce took third place with a 51'0.25". (List of top TRIPLE JUMP distances)
Bruce is ranked 13th in the long jump, a distance of 24'7" set at the GLIAC Championship meet. His personal record in the event came at last season's Toledo Invitational. Bruce won that event with a 24'9.75". (List of top LONG JUMP distances)
Trey Everett will be making his first appearance in the DII National Championship meet in the high jump. He qualifies with a height of 6'11" which he cleared at the Hillsdale Last Chance meet. He is ranked sixth in the nation in the event. A year ago, Everett, competing for Bluffton University, finished 14th in the NCAA Division III Outdoor National Championship Meet and earned all-American status in the NCAA Division III Indoor meet where he earned third place with a leap of 6'11". (List of top HIGH JUMP marks)
Ben Hahler, a multi-year national qualifier, will compete in a pair of field events as he has earned spots in the shot put and discus throw.
His best event is the shot put where he is ranked seventh in the country. That throw of 58'8.5" is from the Border Battle on April 16. His personal best in the event came at last season's National Championship where Hahler earned all-American with a fifth place finish. That throw measured 59'4". (List of top SHOT PUT distances)
Ranked 20th in the discus, Hahler has earned a trip to Bradenton with his performance from the GLIAC Championship meet, a throw that distanced 171'3. That throw is a personal record. (List of top DISCUS THROW distances)
Austin Combs will make his first trip to the National Championship Meet after earning a spot in the hammer throw. He joins the field with a national ranking of 14 in the event. That ranking comes as a result of his performance at the Aquinas College Twilight Meet where he distanced 197'7". (List of top HAMMER THROW distances)