The William Woods Owls begin competition today in the NAIA outdoor track and field national championships at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium in Gulf Shores, Ala.
Quentin Webert, the William Woods men’s lone national qualifier, opens the championships for the Owls in the hammer throw. That event is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
Webert qualified with a throw of 184 feet, 1 inch during the Central Missouri Relays on April 15. He is seeded 18th out of 21 competitors.
Last season, Webert finished 11th in the men’s hammer throw at the national championships.
Up next on the opening day of the national championships for William Woods is Natalie Thomas, who will compete in the women’s javelin. The events begins at 6 p.m.
Thomas qualified with a throw of 132-6 on May 12 at the Missouri S&T Qualifier. She is seeded 18th out of 23 competitors.
Last season, Thomas placed 16th in the women’s javelin at the national championships.
Wrapping up Day 1 for the Owls are Ellie Dimond and Harley Nale in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase. Today’s first round of the event starts at 8:40 p.m.
Dimond is seeded 14th out of 27 qualifiers with her time of 11:08.60 from the Concordia Twilight on May 12-13. Nale is the No. 19 seed with a time of 11:12.78, which she also recorded at the Concordia Twilight.
Last season, Dimond was sixth at the national championships in the steeplechase. This will be Nale’s outdoor track and field national championships debut after qualifying for the cross country national championships four times.
The final for the steeplechase is slated to start at 2 p.m. Friday.
Katie French will be the Owls’ final competitor, as she qualified for nationals in both the women’s shot put and discus.
French is the No. 12 seed out of 25 qualifiers in the shot put, which will begin at 2:30 p.m. Thursday. She qualified with a throw of 45-1.5 on March 26 at Missouri S&T’s Miner Invitational.
In the discus, which starts at 1 p.m. Friday, French is seeded 20th out of 32 qualifiers. Her qualifying throw of 142-6, also her career-best, came at the Central Missouri Relays.
Last season, French placed 13th in the discus and 14th in the shot put at the national championships.