By: @n_jcamp
GULF SHORES, Ala. – In a day one that saw Cornerstone at the track for roughly 13 hours, the Golden Eagles earned three NAIA All-American honors as
Colten Covington,
Haley Nieuwkoop, and
Kelli Smith all finished top eight in the 10,000m late Wednesday evening. Cornerstone continues action tomorrow the same way they did today as the
Josh DeVries,
Braely Herrema, and
Morgan Luedy conclude their multi events and will be followed by distance prelims and the 5k race walk finals later in the afternoon.
Men's Results
The decathlon opened with
Josh DeVries going 11.56 in the 100m to pick up an early 740 points.
In event two of the long jump, DeVries soared to an outdoor PR mark of 6.31m to add 655 points to his total and bring him to 1395.
In the third event, DeVries threw 9.66m in the shot put which was good for 14
th and picked up 465 points.
In the high jump, DeVries cleared 1.88m to gain 696 points to bring his total to 2556.
DeVries finished day one strong, with a mark of 51.54 in the 400m to gain 745 points and finish ninth in the event. After the first day, DeVries recorded 3301 points to sit just outside of NAIA All-American status in 11
th place overall.
Owen Woltjer was scheduled to compete in the 3000m steeplechase prelims but automatically qualified for finals on Friday afternoon.
Colten Covington and
Luke Koopman ended the night in the 10k finals. Covington was part of the top nine for the first half of the race as all nine athletes traded places multiple times. Later in the race the top four created separation and Covington found himself in the second group. He was able to hold eighth overall and earn NAIA All-American status with a time of 31:25.87. Koopman found himself in the bottom half of the race and was able to finish 23
rd individually with a time of 33:12.75.
Women's Results
Morgan Luedy and
Braely Herrema started the heptathlon with a bang, each recording outdoor PR's in the 100m hurdles. Luedy went 14.73 to move to seventh in CU program history while Herrema went 15.43 for ninth in the program's history. After one event, Luedy totaled 878 points and Herrema recorded 786.
In event two of the high jump, both athletes got off to a fantastic start as Luedy went six for six before her first miss and Herrema went four for four. Herrema ended with an outdoor PR of 1.58m for 712 points and Luedy cleared 1.61m for 747 points. Luedy's mark was also good for third overall in the high jump. After three events Luedy led the field with 1625 points.
Herrema hit another PR in the shot put with a mark of 9.77m to total 514 points. Luedy, in her weakest event, tallied a 9.52m throw for 498 points to keep her in first place overall.
Day one of the heptathlon ended with a dominant 24.76 in to 200m for Luedy and a 26.83 PR for Herrema. After day one of competition, Luedy sat in 1
st place overall with 3032 points, while the 16 seed Herrema sat in sixth with 2738 total points.
Ashley Verplank was the first to compete in non-multi's action, clearing 3.55m in the pole vault on her third and final attempt. She was unable to clear 3.60m however which resulted in a 15th place finish in her first ever NAIA Outdoor National Championship appearance.
In the evening session,
Nygia Pollard competed in the 3000m steeplechase prelims and cruised to a final's qualifying mark of 11:14.18. She will compete in the finals at 3 p.m. EST on Friday, May 28.
The night ended with
Kelli Smith,
Haley Nieuwkoop, and
Annika Shoemaker in the 10k finals. Smith earned All-American status finishing second after cruising past Ashley Walker from Point University in the second half finishing with a time of 35:50.86.
Haley Nieuwkoop snuck into eighth for All-American as well with a time of 36:38.54 after sitting in the back of the largest pack of the race until the final 10 laps where she gained some ground.
Annika Shoemaker finished outside All-American status with a mark of 38:32.33 to finish 13
th, again using the second half of the race to gain significant ground.
Track & Field Contact:
Jesse Campbell
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