VCSU’s Odegard and Co qualify for NAIA Outdoor National Meet
(VCSU) SPEARFISH, S.D. – Valley City State University athletes won three events, and both Kyle Odegard and Zachary Co qualified for nationals during the first outdoor track meet of the 2021 season.
Odegard won the men’s javelin and hit the NAIA ‘A’ Standard to qualify for nationals during Sunday’s meet in Spearfish, S.D. Co did the same for shot put as they both punched their tickets to the national meet May 26-28 in Gulf Shores, Ala.
In women’s javelin, VCSU senior Peyton Halverson won the meet Sunday with a throw of 37.69 meters to start her outdoor season.
The Vikings finished with 15 Top 8 finishes at the season-opening meet,
including six marks in the Top 4 places.
Complete Results: https://www.tfrrs.org/ results/68246/2021_Yellow_Jacket_Spring_ Open/
A two-time AllAmerican in men’s javelin, Odegard wasted little time earning his spot back at the national meet. The Viking senior threw his national qualifying mark of 57.79 meters (189’ 7”) on his first throw of the season. He narrowly edged two throwers from Minot State to take first place. Odegard currently ranks third in the NAIA. He placed fourth at nationals in 2019 and was seventh at nationals in 2019.
Coming off a fourthplace finish at indoor nationals just three weeks ago in shot put, Co put up a monster throw Sunday to qualify for outdoor nationals for the first time in his career. His top shot put throw of 16.82 meters (55’ 2.25”) was a careerbest mark and was more than seven feet better than second place at the meet. He currently ranks fourth in the NAIA.
In women’s javelin, Viking senior Peyton Halverson started the season with a first-place finish. Halverson threw 37.69 meters (123’ 8”) on her first throw of the day, beating second-place by more than seven feet. She is currently just 1.31 meters away from the NAIA “B” Standard to qualify for nationals.
The Vikings also produced a pair of secondplace finishes on Sunday. Cody Fuchs ran a career-best time of 51.09 to place second in the men’s 400 meters, and Taylor Sargent cleared 1.45 meters in women’s high jump to place second as well. VCSU’s 15 Top 8 finishes are listed below.
Up next: Valley City State is scheduled to compete at the Minnesota-Morris Cougar Classic on Saturday, April 3. 2021 Yellow Jacket Spring Open Black Hills State