Deitering punches his ticket to Nationals and both 10K records fall at Augustana Meet of Champions

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - In their first multi meet of the 2024 outdoor season, the Clarke University track and field team had another weekend of multiple notable accomplishments at the conclusion of the Augustana Meet of Champions on Friday and Saturday.

Becoming the second member of the Pride men to qualify for the NAIA National Championship meet, Brody Deitering set a new school record in the decathlon with his 6190 total points scored on Friday and Saturday to finish in fifth at the meet and post the ninth-best point total in the NAIA with the top-16 scores by the end of the season set to go to Marion, Ind. on May 22-24.

Joining Deitering on the school record breaking path were a pair of distance runners competing in the 10,000 meter run as Rory Bickler set yet another women's track and field record with her 38:15.55 time in the 10K as Emmett Schwartzhoff set his second school record in two weeks with his 32:44.47 after breaking the 5K record last week.

Continuing their solid outdoor seasons so far were both Gavayne Smith and Annemarie Koerner as Koerner earned a fourth place finish in the women's heptathlon then Smith posted the top time in the 100-meter dash prelims then finish in second place in the finals with a 10.71, slightly better than his prelim time of 10.74.

The Pride would come away with two more top-five event finishes, both on the women's side, as Abreiana Christoffer earned a fourth place in the 100-meter hurdles with a 15.54 finals time then Jaycie Franco ran a 19:30.04 in the 5K to finish in fifth place.

Full meet results for CU can be found here: https://results.wayzatatiming.com/meets/34775/teams/828690

Clarke track and field will continue onto their final meets before the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championships next week when they travel to Des Moines, Iowa for the Drake Relays on Apr. 25-26 and also compete in the Grand View Viking Classic on Apr. 26.