2021 NAIA Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Rating Index – Week 9
NEW ORLEANS – The 2021 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships return to the site where its women’s competition has been contested the most times – Gulf Shores, Alabama.
Action begins Wednesday for the three-day meet that will be held for the seventh year in a row at the Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium Complex.
This will be the 40th women’s championships for the NAIA, which has never been held more than four times at a previous site.
NAIA — Women's Outdoor Track & Field
This Week's National Top Five
1
Concordia (Neb.)
Concordia (Neb.)
2
Indiana Tech
Indiana Tech
3
William Carey (Miss.)
William Carey (Miss.)
4
Hastings (Neb.)
Hastings (Neb.)
5
Wayland Baptist (Texas)
Wayland Baptist (Texas)
All TFRI Reports
A number of strong programs are set to create an exciting team competition. Leading the way is Concordia (Neb.), which remained No. 1 in the final NAIA Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Ratings Index released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Concordia (Neb.) is seeking to win the team title at this meet for the first time since 2016, and the Bulldogs have a lot of bite in their lineup with 24 individual entries, along with two relays.
Two NAIA Indoor champions are looking to add an outdoor title to their resume – Rachel Battershell, a sophomore who has won two-straight indoor 400 titles, and freshman Rosie Puelz, pole vault champion indoors. Both lead their events outdoors.
Like many athletes, Adrianna Shaw’s final outdoor season was delayed due to last year’s meet being canceled, but the senior is looking for at least one more title. She won the discus in 2018 and 2019, but enters this meet ranked just No. 2. However, Shaw leads the lists in two other events – the shot put and hammer.
Not to be overlooked is No. 2 Indiana Tech, which dominated the NAIA Indoor meet in March. The Warriors have the most entries in the meet with 27 individuals and two relays.
Leondra Correia is entered in four events for Indiana Tech, including the 100 hurdles where she is rated No. 1. She showed her mettle at the NAIA Indoor meet, winning three events that included the long jump. Here, Correia is third, while teammate Destiny Copeland – the 2019 champion – leads the list.
No. 3 William Carey (Miss.), runner-up at the NAIA Indoor Championships, has a pair of top-end talents in sprinter Aniekeme Etim and jumper Brittany Jones. Etim swept the NAIA Outdoor 100 and 200 back in 2019 and since added 60/200 indoor doubles in both 2020 and 2021. Jones swept the indoor long and triple jump titles in March at the NAIA Indoor.
No. 4 Hastings has the No. 2-ranked pole vaulter in Abigail Collingham among a well-balanced team, and No. 5 Wayland Baptist is led by the nation’s top-2 athletes in the 200 in Raheema Westfall and Safia Bright. Bright won the 100 in this meet in 2018, plus 60 indoors in 2019.
Rounding out the top-10 in the final TFRI are No. 6 Southeastern (Fla.), No. 7 Doane (Neb.), No. 8 St. Francis (Ill.), No. 9 Cornerstone (Mich.) and No. 10 Life (Ga.).
Two distance stars are set to clash in the 5000. Emily Kearney, now a graduate student at Milligan (Tenn.) swept the 3000 and 5000 at the 2020 NAIA Indoor Championships while at SCAD Atlanta and leads the lists in both the 5000 and 10,000 this year.
Freshman Emma Wilson of Huntington (Ind.) won the mile and 3000 and anchored the winning distance medley relay team at the NAIA Indoor in March. Since then she added the NAIA cross country title in April and leads the nation in the 1500. Wilson, second only to Kearney on the 5K list, could also see action in the 4×800.
The meet even features a champion from as far back as 2017 in Bria Sands of Life (Ga.) – she swept the NAIA indoor and outdoor triple jump titles in 2017 and is ranked among the top-5 in the high jump, long jump and triple jump this year.
