JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The Dakota Wesleyan University women's track and field team had two athletes compete in the Friday session with both posting sparkling performances at the 2016 NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Johnson City, Tenn.
Senior Nicole Court-Menendez has done it again, adding to her long list of accomplishments and putting together her best finish at a national meet. The senior from Lewiston, Maine finished fourth with a time of 15 minutes, 28.03 seconds in the 3,000-meter racewalk in her fourth straight appearance at the event. The fourth-place finish gives Court-Menendez her third indoor All-American honor.
Court-Menendez now holds five total NAIA All-American honors, including two from the outdoor championships. She trails only Jamey Sperle in total All-American performances in school history. Sperle finished his career with seven for the DWU men's track and field team.
"Nicole had an outstanding race today," DWU track and field Head Coach Derik Fossum said. "Racewalk is such a technical event, in which you must race strategically. Her competitive maturity was really on display today. We are just so proud of her. She has worked incredibly hard to get back up on the podium her senior year."
In the preliminaries of the women's 1,000-meter run, senior Skylar Forgey left it all on the track. Forgey posted the fifth best time in the two heats, falling across the finish line at 2:58.84, finishing third in her heat. With her performance, Forgey qualified for the event final to take place Saturday.
The final is the first of Forgey's career, and as long as the Colome, S.D., native finishes the race she is guaranteed to reach the podium for her first All-American honor.
"It has been a fun ride watching Skylar be so committed to a goal and to see her grow as a result of her commitment," Fossum said. "She is exactly where she wanted to be, competing in the finals at the national meet. This is an opportunity she has earned and certainly deserves. I can't wait to see how she finishes her indoor career Saturday."
Along with Forgey, freshman Kamberlyn Lamer (Hartford, S.D.) will compete in the women's triple jump, while freshman Ben Hammer (Dell Rapids, S.D.) makes his NAIA debut in the men's shot put in the final session of the NAIA Indoor Championships Saturday.