By MAYAN PAZ
Tiger Media Network
This weekend, the attention of many NCAA DII athletics fans will be directed to Indianapolis, where the NCAA DII Festival is taking place. Among the competitors, three Tigers have made it to the track and field national championships. After an indoor season that started in December, Jacob Clark and Annabeth Baalmann qualified in the pole vault, and Nolan Churchman qualified in the heptathlon and the long jump. All three have prior experience on the national stage.
Churchman has earned six All-American honors in his four years as a Tiger, and his trophies vary between the heptathlon, decathlon, and the 400 relay. Clark is a five-time All-American in the pole vault and this will be his last indoor competition as he is scheduled to graduate in May. Baalmann already has one All-American trophy in the pole vault and will look to add to her trophy cabinet.
Baalmann is ranked fourth going into the final and said she is excited to utilize her experience from the last time she competed at nationals.
“I think these nationals, after the last time I competed at nationals, I have a lot more confidence in myself going into this competition, and I’m excited to get there and get going and compete,” she said.
Clark is ranked sixth in the competition and is going into nationals after clearing 5.18 meters at the MIAA championships to clinch second place. Clark said that the preparation for nationals was mainly working on little technical adjustments. Pole vault coach Randy Stanley was happy with the way Clark performed ahead of nationals.
“He had been struggling a little bit, and it’s it’s been affecting his confidence level. And so I think with the way he performed and the way he pulled out several third attempts at the MIAA championship, I think that’s that should truly help his confidence and get ready for nationals, because it’s going to be a very, very competitive national meet,” Stanley said. “There are probably six guys who jumped over 17 feet, and so it’s going to take a great jump to make the All-American this year into the top eight.”
Churchman is perhaps the most experienced athlete on the team, and he is hoping to improve his school records both in the heptathlon and in the long jump competition. While he secured his place in the heptathlon relatively early in the season and is ranked fifth, he added the long jump competition to his schedule at the last minute, jumping a school record of 7.42 meters during the MIAA championship.
Churchman is ranked 16th in the long jump but with only eight centimeters separating him from sixth place, he will hope to surprise his competitors with an All-American finish. Churchamn would also face a unique schedule challenge, as the long jump final will take place at the same time as the pole vault competition in the heptathlon. However, if anyone can successfully face such challenges, it is the multi-athlete.
Assistant coach Kelly Meyer, who is in charge of the multi-athlete group, spoke about the challenging schedule, which includes multi-events beginning at 11 a.m. and long jump competition at noon.
“Then pole vault is supposed to start at 12:20. We think that it’s going to play out to where he will be in the first flight of long jump, and then won’t come in for pole vault until a little bit later. So it should work, but it will be challenging,” Meyer said. “He’s a veteran in competing in nationals in the multi, so I would really love to see him in the top five in the heptathlon. And long jump, I don’t even want to say. I just want him to go jump because you never know. Long Jump I feel is one of those things that anything can happen for anybody at Nationals.”
The events begin today and will run through Saturday. After indoor nationals, the team will transition to outdoor competition.