EMPORIA, Kan. - The NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships are underway as of Thursday morning, with Northwest Nazarene's
Laurenz Waldbauer and
Madeline Gebers set to compete on Saturday.
Waldbauer and Gebers each throw the javelin, and are both coming off of runner-up finishes in the event at the GNAC Outdoor Championships last weekend. This is Waldbauer's second time qualifying for nationals, also competing in the javelin in 2022.
The championships are set to be held May 23-25 at Welch Stadium in Emporia, Kansas, hosted by Emporia State University. Both the men's and women's javelin events are scheduled to take place on Saturday the 25th, with the men opening the events that day at 10:30 a.m. Central and the women following at 1:30 p.m. Central.
To follow along live, there are live results of the entire championships at
this link and there is set to be live video on Saturday of the men's javelin at
this link and the women's javelin at
this link.
Waldbauer enters the national meet ranked sixth in the men's javelin, holding a mark of 70.71 meters from the Oregon Preview on March 22. Four of the five athletes ahead of him on the performance list are within less than four meters.
Waldbauer is the ninth NCAA Outdoor qualifier from NNU since the Nighthawks joined Division II in 17 different events. He is one of five NNU men's athletes to qualify for Outdoors in multiple years or multiple events.
Gebers grabbed the final qualifying spot in the women's javelin, slotting in at 21st of the 21 selections in the event. Her best mark was set just this past weekend at the GNAC Championships with a toss of 45.12 meters.
Gebers is the 12th different NNU women's athlete to qualify for Outdoor Nationals and just the second since 2019, joining
Kinsey Yenor in the pole vault from last year. She is the third women's javelin thrower from NNU to reach nationals, joining Lakiesha Nilles (2009 & 2010) and Ellie Logan, who made the national meet all four of her years including a runner-up finish as a senior in 2019.
