ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced this morning the official qualifiers for the 2022 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Fourteen Raiders punch their tickets to Alabama for head coach Scott Bahrke.

Four Raider men clinched a spot at the Championships in their respective events. Both Levi Cross (Sr., Des Moines, Iowa) and Ian Wiersma (Sr., Zeeland, Mich.) will both compete in the Marathon. Wiersma has the 20^th best time in the event entering the Championships (1:12:22.00), followed by Cross’ 25^th best time (1:12:34.00).

In field events, Northwestern will be represented by James Gilbert Jr. (Jr., Orlando, Fla.) and Lorenzo Jones (So., Orlando, Fla.). Gilbert will compete in the Long Jump, entering with the automatic mark leap of 7.34m which is sixth-best in the nation. Jones, competing in the Triple Jump, has the third-best mark entering the Championships (15.05m).

On the women’s side, five punched their tickets down to Alabama. Abigail Clarke (Jr., Waverly, Neb.) and Emma Zoet (Fr., Hull, Iowa) will compete in the 400m hurdles. Clarke’s qualifying time of 1:03.03 sits 15^th in the NAIA, followed by Zoet’s 1:04.45 (27^th in the NAIA). Katlyn Wiese (So., Holstein, Iowa) will compete in the Marathon, entering with the seventh-best mark in the country (1:26:13.24).

In field events, Jacie Vander Waal (Fr., Sioux Center, Iowa) and Lindsey Craig (Jr., Shafer, Minn.) will represent Northwestern in the High Jump. They both are tied for 22^nd in the nation with a qualifying mark of 1.64m.

One relay team earned the right to compete for a national title in the men’s 4x100m relay squad. The relay team features Jake Davies (So., Brandon, Wis.), Gilbert, Braden Jahn (Jr., Sioux Center, Iowa), Jones, Cody Post (Jr., Rock Valley, Iowa), Daniel Strand (Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D.), and Kyler Vander Velde (Fr., Sioux Falls, S.D.). The relay team hit the provisional mark with a time of 41.53 at the Drake Relays back on April 27, the time currently sits 29^th in the NAIA.