Kokomo Standard

VanderWall Leads Taylor to 25th-Place Finish at Nationals

The Taylor women's track and field team concluded its stay at the 2023 NAIA Indoor National Championships on Saturday with four All-American performances which resulted in a top-25 team finish for the Trojans.

 

Taylor picked up 12 points at the three-day event, with all 12 points coming from four All-American performances on Saturday. Noel VanderWall highlighted the day with All-American efforts in the mile and 3,000-meters, while also setting new TU program records in each event. Joining VanderWall in earning All-American honors were Patience Sakeuh and Mollie Gamble.

 

VanderWall took fifth in the 3,000-meters with a time of 9:52.35 and finished sixth in the mile with a time of 4:57.77. Both results were good for new Taylor records and gave the freshman her second and third All-American award of her career, after also racing to All-American accolades in cross country.

 

Sakeuh registered her third-straight All-American nod in the 60-meter hurdles at Indoor Nationals, this time taking sixth with a time of 8.65 seconds.

 

In the 5,000-meters, Mollie Gamble followed her cross country All-American award from the fall with an All-American performance at Indoor Nationals. Gamble crossed in seventh at 17:45.06, with teammate Ahna VanderWall finishing two spots back and just outside of All-American status in ninth at 18:02.80.

 

Kiana Siefert rounded out TU's list of finals competitors on Saturday, taking 27th in the triple jump with a mark of 11.04 meters.

 

TU's four All-American honors and 25th-place finish bring a close a successful indoor campaign. Next up for the Trojans will be their first outdoor meet on March 25 and Indiana Wesleyan.

Original source can be found here.